Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether the Government has asked the Pakistani High Commissioner to lift the seal on the Ahmadi mosque in Chakwal.

I condemn the attack on the Ahmadiyya mosque in Chakwal on 12 December. The Government strongly condemns the persecution of all minorities, including the targeting of people based on their beliefs.

We regularly raise our concerns about the protection of minority communities, including religious minorities, with the Government of Pakistan. During my visit to Pakistan last week, I discussed the protection of religious minorities, including the Ahmadiyya, with Kamran Michael, Pakistani Minister for Human Rights, and Barrister Zafarullah Khan, the Prime Minister's Special Assistant for Human Rights. The Foreign Secretary, my Rt Hon. Friend the Member for Uxbridge and South Ruislip (Mr Boris Johnson), raised religious tolerance and the importance of safeguarding the rights of all Pakistan's citizens when he visited Pakistan in November 2016. The Government continues to urge Pakistan to honour in practice its human rights obligations, including those related to religious minorities, and to uphold the rule of law.