Asked by: Lord Alton of Liverpool (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of instances of persecution on the grounds of religion or belief in some Indian states; when they last raised this with the government of India, including the High Commission of India in London; and what response they have received from the government of India.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all and promoting respect and tolerance between different religious and non-religious communities, regardless of faith.
I [Lord (Tariq) Ahmad] discussed human rights with the Government of India, leaders of faith groups and others during my visit to India in May 2023. FoRB was also among the issues discussed during my visit to India in February. Where we have issues, we raise them directly with the Government of India, including at Ministerial level.
The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions across India, consistently monitor human rights in the country, regularly engage with civil society and religious representatives, and have run projects supporting human rights.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what information his Department holds on the attendance at the 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
The 19th Western Pacific Naval Symposium took place in Qingdao, China in April 2024. The Royal Navy was represented by the First Sea Lord, supported by three members of the Naval Staff.
Other Chiefs of Navy (or their representatives) attended from: Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Fiji, France, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, Tonga, the United States, Vietnam, Bangladesh, Ecuador, India, Mexico, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, how many staff in his Department were based in the Republic of India as of 15 April 2024.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The FCDO currently has between 40-49 staff, as at the end of March 2024, working in India.
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether the United Kingdom and India collaborate on space programmes.
Answered by Andrew Griffith - Minister of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)
India is a hugely important partner for the UK, not least because of its size, scale of ambition in science and technology. The UK and India collaborate on space programmes, for example the UK Space Agency is funding the development of an X-Ray imaging instrument, AXIS, in collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, whether he has had discussions with his counterpart in India on the treatment of Christian churches and foreign missionaries in India.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
The UK Government is committed to defending Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB) for all and promoting tolerance between different religious and non-religious communities, including respect for all places of worship.
India is committed via its constitution to freedom of religion and belief. Where specific issues or concerns arise, we raise these with the Government of India.
Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister for South Asia, discussed FoRB with the Government of India, leaders of faith groups and others during his visit to India in May 2023. The British High Commission in New Delhi and our network of Deputy High Commissions across India regularly engage with civil society and religious representatives on these issues.
Asked by: John Healey (Labour - Wentworth and Dearne)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the delivery of the Future Commando Force.
Answered by Leo Docherty - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence) (Minister for the Armed Forces)
Commando Forces are deployed globally today, delivering disproportionate impact for a formation of their size, in the High North, Eastern Mediterranean and India-Asia Pacific regions as well as supporting rapid operational feedback and validating lessons from Ukraine.
The Department continually assesses resourcing of all operational capabilities. The Commando Force has delivered significant capability improvements at pace which have already been deployed on operations, with spiral development of key capabilities to retain their operational advantage going forward.
The Commando Force Programme is delivering a transformational change to amphibious operations through two investment increments over the next ten-years that offer political choice at competition, crisis and conflict levels.
Asked by: Lisa Nandy (Labour - Wigan)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Deputy Foreign Secretary, what recent discussions he has had with his Asian Pacific counterparts on climate change mitigation measures.
Answered by Andrew Mitchell - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office) (Minister for Development)
Climate change remains a central focus of our diplomatic relations. The FCDO ministerial team have and will continue to engage with counterparts in the Asia Pacific including those most vulnerable to climate change and essential to the green transition. In March, the Foreign Secretary discussed climate change with the Australian Foreign Minister at AUKMIN (the Australia-UK Ministerial Meeting) and launched the UK Partnering for Accelerated Climate Transitions (UK PACT) Country Fund in Thailand, worth up to £6 million. The region includes key partners like Australia, whom we work with through the UNFCCC as members of the Umbrella Group; developing countries we are supporting with their climate transitions (such as Indonesia and Vietnam, where we are leading JETPs - Just Energy Transition Partnerships); major emitters such as China and India; and the Pacific Island Countries, who are uniquely vulnerable to climate impacts and a strong moral voice on climate.
Asked by: Maria Eagle (Labour - Garston and Halewood)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what overseas events UK Defence and Security Exports has supported in each year since 2019.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
2019 (22 overseas events)
2020 (5 overseas events attended others cancelled due to Covid-19 Pandemic)
2021 (6 overseas events attended, others cancelled due to Covid-19 Pandemic and Hurricane in USA)
2022 (9 overseas events supported, others cancelled for Covid-19 and Ukraine-related issues)
2023 (12 overseas events)
2024 (16 events planned, 4 delivered to date)
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will make an assessment of the potential implications for his policies of the alleged assassination of alleged terrorists in Pakistan by the Indian government.
Answered by Anne-Marie Trevelyan - Minister of State (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
All countries should respect sovereignty and the rule of law. India and Pakistan are long-standing, important friends of the UK and we encourage both to engage in dialogue and find lasting, diplomatic solutions to maintain regional stability. The UK strongly believes in the importance of peaceful co-existence. It would be inappropriate to comment further.
Asked by: Julian Knight (Independent - Solihull)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, how many requests for consular support were made to each British Embassy or Consulate in 2023; and how many of those were responded to by officials within a period of 24 hours.
Answered by David Rutley - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office)
Our consular staff endeavour to give appropriate and tailored assistance 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year, to British nationals overseas and their families in the UK who need support. In 2023, in addition to long running cases, we provided support to around 22,000 British nationals, see breakdown by Post in the table below. The FCDO reports publicly on consular delivery through the FCDO Outcome Delivery Plan [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/foreign-commonwealth-development-office-outcome-delivery-plan]. Publishing our transparency data is currently on hold while we embed a new Case Management system.
COUNTRY | 2023 |
Afghanistan | 22 |
Albania | 63 |
Algeria | 23 |
Angola | |
Argentina | 34 |
Armenia | 8 |
Australia | 414 |
Austria | 92 |
Azerbaijan | 12 |
Bahrain | 48 |
Barbados | 113 |
Belarus | 6 |
Belgium | 152 |
Bolivia | 12 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina | 12 |
Botswana | 15 |
Brazil | 88 |
Bulgaria | 166 |
Cambodia | 112 |
Cameroon | 30 |
Canada | 181 |
Chile | 21 |
China | 143 |
Colombia | 73 |
Congo (Democratic Republic) | 22 |
Costa Rica | 39 |
Croatia | 114 |
Cuba | 29 |
Cyprus | 441 |
Czechia | 141 |
Denmark | 88 |
Dominican Republic | 67 |
Ecuador | 13 |
Egypt | 383 |
Estonia | 19 |
Ethiopia | 104 |
Fiji | 21 |
Finland | 49 |
France | 1027 |
Georgia | 27 |
Germany | 662 |
Ghana | 85 |
Greece | 936 |
Guatemala | 43 |
Guinea | |
Guyana | 17 |
Hong Kong SAR | 110 |
Hungary | 131 |
Iceland | 17 |
India | 360 |
Indonesia | 196 |
Iraq | 46 |
Ireland | 104 |
Israel | 39 |
Italy | 411 |
Ivory Coast | |
Jamaica | 179 |
Japan | 167 |
Jerusalem | 61 |
Jordan | 71 |
Kazakhstan | 14 |
Kenya | 146 |
Kuwait | 30 |
Kyrgyzstan | |
Laos | 29 |
Latvia | 20 |
Lebanon | 34 |
Liberia | |
Lithuania | 23 |
Luxembourg | 10 |
Madagascar | |
Malawi | |
Malaysia | 138 |
Malta | 106 |
Mauritius | 14 |
Mexico | 207 |
Moldova | 13 |
Mongolia | 6 |
Montenegro | 33 |
Morocco | 222 |
Myanmar (Burma) | 8 |
Namibia | 9 |
Nepal | 21 |
Netherlands | 287 |
New Zealand | 127 |
Nigeria | 74 |
Norway | 149 |
Oman | 50 |
Pakistan | 376 |
Panama | 17 |
Paraguay | |
Peru | 58 |
Philippines | 283 |
Poland | 242 |
Portugal | 524 |
Qatar | 96 |
Romania | 89 |
Russia | 28 |
Rwanda | 7 |
Saudi Arabia | 166 |
Senegal | 21 |
Serbia | 29 |
Seychelles | 11 |
Sierra Leone | 15 |
Singapore | 105 |
Slovakia | 38 |
Slovenia | 17 |
South Africa | 195 |
South Korea | 40 |
Spain | 4143 |
Sri Lanka | 86 |
St Lucia | 21 |
Sudan | 34 |
Sweden | 110 |
Switzerland | 157 |
Taiwan | 22 |
Tajikistan | 6 |
Tanzania | 36 |
Thailand | 1383 |
The Gambia | 48 |
Trinidad and Tobago | 40 |
Tunisia | 75 |
Turkey | 947 |
Uganda | 52 |
Ukraine | 56 |
United Arab Emirates | 658 |
United States | 1649 |
Uruguay | 10 |
Uzbekistan | 8 |
Venezuela | |
Vietnam | 188 |
Zambia | 22 |
Zimbabwe | 26 |
NB We do not publish data where figures are 5 or below to comply with GDPR