Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the effect on the rule of law in the Republic of India of the procedures recently used by the Indian Government to amend Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution of India.

We are following the serious situation in Kashmir closely and have raised our concerns with the Indian Government about ongoing restrictions in India-administered Kashmir. We welcome information provided by the Indian Government on how they intend to return the situation to normalcy and lift the remaining restrictions. We recognise that there are human rights concerns in Kashmir and we encourage all states to ensure domestic laws are in line with international standards.