India (Hansard, 29 October 2002)

§ Mr. Ancram
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what representations his Department has made to the Indian authorities in the last six months concerning the case of Professor Davinder Singh Bhullar. [77949]

§ Mr. Straw
My Department has made no representations in the last six months concerning Davinder Singh Bhullar, but we are aware of his case. We understand that a final decision on Mr. Bhullar's appeal to the Indian Supreme Court is still awaited. Our High Commission in New Delhi will continue to follow the case along with EU partners.

§ Mr. Michael Ancram
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1) what representations have been made by Her Majesty's Government encouraging the Indian Government to grant access in the Punjab to the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture; [77950]
(2) what representations his Department has made to the Indian authorities with regard to encouraging the granting of access to the Punjab by international human rights groups. [77951]

§ Mr. Straw
We have made official level representations to the Government of India for greater general access to India of UN Special Rapporteurs and international human rights NGOs, although not specifically for their access to Punjab.
We continue to encourage the Indian Government to ratify the UN Convention against Torture (CAT). My hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. Mike O'Brien) most recently discussed this and a number of other human rights issues during his visit to India on 17 October.

§ Mr. Ancram
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions(a) he and (b) other Ministers have had with the authorities in India about the use of and removal of land mines in that country.[77952]

§ Mr. Straw
I refer the right hon. Member to the answer given by my hon. Friend the Member for North Warwickshire (Mr. O'Brien) to my hon. Friend the Member for Ealing, North (Mr. Pound) on 25 June 2002,Official Report, column 791W. This remains our position.
755W
I warmly welcome the recent announcements of the Indian and Pakistani Governments to withdraw forces from their international border. I hope that further such de-escalatory measures by India and Pakistan will continue to reduce the regional tensions, and pave the way for a resumption of dialogue over Kashmir.