Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Afghan counterpart on human rights and religious freedom in that country.

The UK works closely with the National Unity Government, civil society and the international community to promote the development of human rights in Afghanistan. This continues to be a priority for the UK. We regularly raise human rights issues with the Government of Afghanistan, including the need to protect the rights of all ethnic and religious groups in line with the constitution. The UK condemns in the strongest possible terms the targeting of innocent people based on their beliefs. I publicly condemned the 1 July attack on a group of Sikhs and Hindus in Jalalabad as “a despicable attack on Afghanistan’s historic Sikh and Hindu community”.