Foreign and Commonwealth Office written question – answered at on 7 October 2019.
Mike Gapes
Independent, Ilford South
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his counterparts in (a) India and (b) Pakistan on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
Heather Wheeler
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
We are following the situation in Kashmir closely and are in regular contact with the Governments of India and Pakistan. The Foreign Secretary has raised his concerns about the situation with the Indian Minister for External Affairs Dr Jaishankar. In addition to this the Prime Minister has spoken to both Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Imran Khan about the situation, underlining the importance of maintaining dialogue. Most recently he discussed the issue with Prime Minister Khan in New York on 23 September. The Minister of State responsible for South Asia has also had regular engagement with the Indian and Pakistani High Commissioners and raised the situation in Kashmir with Minister Naqvi during their meeting in New Delhi on 3 October. Events in Kashmir can have regional and international implications and we continue to urge calm and caution from all.
Yes2 people think so
No1 person thinks not
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Secretary of State was originally the title given to the two officials who conducted the Royal Correspondence under Elizabeth I. Now it is the title held by some of the more important Government Ministers, for example the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
