§ 5. Mr. SimpsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the British hostages in Kashmir. [30846]
§ The Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Sir Nicholas Bonsor)We continue to work closely with the Indian and other Governments involved in our efforts to secure the release of the hostages. We very much hope that recent reports that they are no longer alive are untrue.
§ Mr. SimpsonDoes the Minister agree it was quite irresponsible of the press to have run stories recently announcing the death of the hostages when there have been a series of unconfirmed sightings since their death was supposed to have taken place? Will he give an assurance to the friends, colleagues and fellow students of Paul Wells in my constituency that there have a number of confirmed sightings of the hostages still alive? Will he give the House an assurance that the British Government are actively pursuing the safe negotiated release of the British hostages?
§ Sir Nicholas BonsorI am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for that. I entirely agree with him that the reports of the possible death of the hostages are profoundly unhelpful. I can give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that he requires: the British Government are making every effort to find the hostages in the hope that they are still alive. We shall continue to work on that basis until we have a more concrete reason to believe that that is not true. I sincerely hope that we never reach that stage and that we can find the hostages and secure their release.