Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations his Department has made to the Indian government on ensuring that demonetised 500 and 1,000 rupee notes can be exchanged in the UK before the end of 2016.

​I refer the Hon. Lady to the answer I gave in the House to my Hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman MP) on 22 November Official Report, Column 750. It is for the Indian Government and the Reserve Bank of India to define what is Indian legal tender. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has updated its travel advice, advising British nationals travelling to India how to act in this matter, and we advise those nationals to monitor the situation closely. The Reserve Bank of India has currency controls in place which limit the amount of rupees (INR25,000) that can be brought into India by overseas residents.