Hilary Benn – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Hilary Benn on 2016-01-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the government of Pakistan on the case of Flight Lieutenant Gurdev Sing Rai and Captain Kamal Bakshi.

Mr Philip Hammond

Sadly, the fate or whereabouts of a number of Indian and Pakistani combatants in the wars that India and Pakistan have fought since 1947 is not known to their relatives.

The UK works closely with other states and the Red Cross Movement to promote compliance with International Humanitarian Law, including the Third Geneva Convention which governs the treatment of Prisoners of War in situations of armed conflict. We call on states and non-state actors engaged in armed conflict to respect International Humanitarian Law and act in accordance with their obligations under it. Within this context, we regard establishing the fate and whereabouts of combatants, and arranging for the release of any surviving combatants as a bilateral issue for India and Pakistan to resolve.