Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to the death of Zakir Musa, what recent assessment he has made of the security situation in Kashmir.

We are aware of reports that last month Indian security forces killed Zakir Musa, the Chief of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) group, during a counter-insurgency operation in Kashmir’s Pulwama district and that a number of protests followed. We continue to monitor the security situation in Kashmir and we keep our travel advice under review. We are concerned by levels of firing and shelling between Indian and Pakistani troops in Kashmir and urge both sides to exercise restraint and improve channels of communication. We welcome the exchanges between Prime Minister Khan and Prime Minister Modi following Prime Minister Modi’s re-election, and we encourage India and Pakistan to engage in dialogue and find lasting, diplomatic solutions to maintain regional stability.