India
Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs

Pamela Nash (Airdrie and Shotts, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what discussions he had with the government of India on the sentence of capital punishment in the case of Balwant Singh Rajoana.

Jeremy Browne (Minister of State (South East Asia/Far East, Caribbean, Central/South America, Australasia and Pacific), Foreign and Commonwealth Office; Taunton Deane, Liberal Democrat)

It is the longstanding policy of successive British Governments strongly to oppose the death penalty in all circumstances as a matter of principle. The recent announcement that the Indian authorities were to carry out the execution of Balwant Singh Rajoana was deeply concerning and I raised this case with the Indian High Commissioner on 28 March. I welcome the stay of execution issued on 28 March to allow the Indian President to consider an appeal for clemency and will continue to monitor developments closely.

We regularly make clear our position on the death penalty, both bilaterally and through the European Union, to the Indian Government. On 11 April, the EU presented a demarche to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs about the possible resumption of executions. We intend to raise the issue of the death penalty at the upcoming EU-India Human Rights Dialogue.