HC Deb 07 July 1976 vol 914 cc1346-7
4. Mr. Peter Morrison

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs whether he has any plans to visit India.

The Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (Mr. Evan Luard)

My right hon. Friend has at present no plans to do so.

Mr. Morrison

Would it not be appropriate for the Foreign Secretary to visit India in the near future so that discussions could be held in regard to the possibility of Indians being expelled from African countries and, in that eventuality, the Indian Government offering Great Britain her co-operation?

Mr. Luard

I think the hon. Gentleman already knows that there are, in fact, a great number of United Kingdom passport holders from Africa who have gone back to India. We have been in contact with the Indian Government over the last two or three weeks about various other aspects of immigration and race relations policy in this country.

Mr. Corbett

May I express the hope that my right hon. Friend will visit India? When he does, will he consider raising with the Indian Government the sadness with which many of us in the House greet the current policies of the Indian Government regarding the illegal imprisonment of members of the Opposition, and will he say what a sad reflection that is upon the hopes and aspirations visited upon India when it was given independence by the Labour Government?

Mr. Luard

We regret any violation of human rights or departure from democratic principles which takes place in any part of the world. The Indian Government are aware of our views on this question. It is basically a question of domestic jurisdiction, and it is not possible for us to make representations on matters of this kind.

Mr. Aitken

Does the Minister realise that it is rather urgent that his right hon. Friend should go to India to resolve the discrepancies of policy and approach which have emerged as existing between the Home Office and the Foreign Office since publication of the Hawley Report? In particular, will the Minister give his attention to the passage in the report which said that many officials from his Department were worried about the way a Home Office Minister had instructed them to decide on entry clearance certificates on the balance of probabilities rather than on the previous standard of being beyond reasonable doubt?

Mr. Luard

The hon. Gentleman is somewhat obsessed with the idea that there is a great discrepancy of policy between the Home Office and the Foreign Office over matters of this kind. There is no evidence whatever of any such difference in policy. On the question of discretion for Home Office Ministers, there has always been an element of discretion. The particular Minister concerned is no longer involved in that Department, but there are no problems of the kind that the hon. Gentleman suggests.

Mr. Tugendhat

On a different aspect of our relations with India, can the Minister say what the outlook is regarding Concorde flights and why the Indian Government appear to have reacted so disappointingly to our request?

Mr. Luard

That is another aspect of Indian policy which is a matter of regret to us at present. We are in discussion with the Indian Government precisely on this matter, and we still hope that they will allow the overflight of Concorde at supersonic speed.