Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the level of UK–India cooperation on environmental policy.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK and India collaborate across the full range of environmental issues, including access to affordable and clean energy, mobilisation of green finance, development of climate-resilient infrastructure, and sustainable urban development.
The first India-UK Energy for Growth Dialogue was held in April 2017 in New Delhi. It provided an enhanced framework for UK-India cooperation to increase interest and deals in the renewables sector. The Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary, Greg Clark, announced up to £20 million of new technical assistance for collaboration in the areas of renewables and energy efficiency. In January 2018 we signed a UK-India memorandum of understanding on bilateral cooperation in urban transport policy, planning, technology transfer and institutional organisation for transport. The UK has a five-year partnership with the Government of India to develop three smart cities in Amravati, Indore and Pune. UK and India also cooperate on environmental issues through a range of multilateral fora.
Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to improve political relations with the government of Canada.
Answered by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon
The UK and Canada are already close allies. We work closely on defence and intelligence matters and enjoy close cooperation on many issues where we have commons aims and values. We are the only two countries that are members of all four of The Commonwealth, NATO, the G7, and the G20.
The Prime Minister visited Ottawa on 18 September, to strengthen ties between the UK and Canada. During her visit, a new framework for cooperation was agreed, a new Strategic Dialogue involving our Foreign, Defence and Development Secretaries will be supported by a Public Policy Forum.
Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they last made representations to the government of China regarding democracy in Hong Kong.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The Minister for Asia and the Pacific discussed the importance of political reform in Hong Kong with Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister, Liu Haixing, on 16 February in Beijing; and in his meeting with Wang Yongqing, Secretary-General of the Central Commission for Politics and Law, in London on 17 February.
Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to strengthen diplomatic relations with China.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK-China relationship is strong, growing, and delivering benefits for both countries. During the State Visit of President Xi Jinping in October 2015 we established a Comprehensive Strategic Global Partnership for the 21st Century. Through this partnership we are working together to tackle global challenges, build our economies for the future, and deepen our people to people links.
The strength of our relationship is demonstrated by the breadth and depth of high level dialogue between our two countries. We have annual high-level Ministerial dialogues on global strategic issues, economic and financial issues, and on our people to people links (covering a range of issues such as education, health, culture and innovation). These are underpinned by a wide range of other dialogues, covering issues such as security, human rights, energy and foreign policy. These dialogues enable us to deliver benefits for the prosperity aims and global agendas of both our countries. They also allow us to discuss issues such as cyber and human rights, because a strong, mature relationship means we can have open and constructive discussion on all subjects, including where we might not agree.
The UK Government has five posts in mainland China, making it our largest overseas network by staff numbers. We also have full time staff based in a number of China's regional cities that have the highest growth potential.
Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to seek support from other EU member states for the UK's position on Gibraltar.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Her Majesty's Government is committed to effective international representation of Gibraltar’s interests. This includes working actively in the EU, in close consultation with the Government of Gibraltar, to ensure that Gibraltar’s priorities are understood by the EU institutions and EU Member States.
Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the situation of the people of Norfolk Island and of the legality of the actions which have been carried out by the Commonwealth of Australia on the island to absorb it into the State of New South Wales.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As a Territory of Australia, the governance of Norfolk Island is a matter for the Australian Government.
Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the referendum on the UK's membership of the EU, what plans they have to promote co-operation between members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
One of the opportunities of the UK's departure from the EU is the ability to deepen our relationship with Commonwealth nations and the strengthen the organisation. We therefore remain determined to deliver on our manifesto commitment to strengthen the Commonwealth's focus on promoting democratic values and development. Furthermore, we will look to build on this commitment when the UK co-hosts with Malta the inaugural meeting of Commonwealth Trade Ministers in March 2017, and hosts the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in 2018.
Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the future implications of continued nuclear weapons tests by North Korea on the stability of the Korean Peninsula.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The UK condemns the recent nuclear test conducted by the Democratic Poeple's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which is a direct violation of binding UN Security Council Resolutions. The DPRK must comply with its obligations under all relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, including abandoning all nuclear weapons and nuclear programmes in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. We continue to discuss further UN Security Council measures with partners.
Asked by: Lord Northbrook (Non-affiliated - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the implications for the UK of proposed international sanctions against Russia.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
Along with our allies in the EU and US, we continue to step up pressure on the Assad regime and its Russian backers to resolve the crisis in Syria. The UK will remain at the forefront of international efforts, including maintaining EU resolve on sanctions.