Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the reply by Baroness Anelay of St Johns on 7 December (HL Deb, col 1310), what assessment they have made of whether the statement that they "never allow issues about our economic relationship to get in the way of upholding international law and international humanitarian law" is consistent with the remarks in June 2014 by the then Minister for Small Business, Industry and Enterprise, Michael Fallon, that "we should not allow" concerns about human rights "to get in the way of a very important trade relationship".
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
As the first country to produce a National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights we have advocated the view that the promotion of business and respect for human rights go hand in hand. We see these as mutually reinforcing. The degree of influence we have with a country, including on human rights issues, depends on many factors; as a general rule we have more influence with countries with whom we have a strong trade and investment relationship.Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the statement in 2014 by the Indian Home Minister describing the 1984 killings of Sikhs in India as genocide, whether they are pushing, or plan to push, for an international inquiry.
Answered by Baroness Anelay of St Johns
The tragic losses of lives during the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 remain a source of deep pain to Sikhs everywhere around the world. We recognise the deep scars that this has left and the understandably strong feelings that exist to this day. We are aware of reports of the Indian Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, referring to the anti-Sikh riots as genocide. Any inquiry is a matter for the Indian government.
Asked by: Lord Singh of Wimbledon (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Warsi on 7 April 2014 (HL WA244), and the oral answer by the Earl of Courtown on 16 June (HL Deb, col 1077), why they consider the mass killing of Sikhs in India to be a matter for the government of India alone, and not an issue for the international community.
Answered by Earl of Courtown - Captain of the Queen's Bodyguard of the Yeomen of the Guard (HM Household) (Deputy Chief Whip, House of Lords)
The events of June 1984 at Sri Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar led to a tragic loss of life and remain a source of deep pain to Sikhs everywhere around the world. We recognise the deep scars that this event left and the incredibly strong feelings that exist to this day. Relations between the Sikhs in India and the Indian government is an internal matter between those two parties.