Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his Indian counterpart on the arbitrary detention of UK national, Mr Jagtar Singh Johal.
The UK Government takes all allegations of human rights violations very seriously, and raises concerns with the local authorities where appropriate. We regularly raise Mr Johal's case directly with the Government of India at official and Ministerial level. The Foreign Secretary raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, on 6 May. The Secretary of State for International Trade raised the case with the Indian Minister for Law and Justice, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on 5 February. Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for South Asia and the Commonwealth, raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kishan Reddy and with Minister Prasad on 15 March during his visit to India. Most recently, Lord Ahmad raised Mr Johal's case with the Indian High Commissioner on 8 June. This Government will continue to look to raise our concerns about Mr Johal's case at all appropriate opportunities.