A Labour government would raise concerns about human rights including those relating to the situation in Kashmir with India, as part of an ethical approach to foreign policy that treated human rights and trade developments as “inseparable parts of the same conversation”, the Labour Party’s spokesperson on foreign affairs Emily Thornberry said on Friday.
Human rights and sustainable development would be “fully embedded” as part of any trade negotiations with countries Britain sought to develop relations with in the wake of Brexit, Ms. Thornberry told a gathering of the Indian Journalists Association in .
Ms. Thornberry also urged the need for a more realistic approach to Britain’s trade talks with India, arguing that Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s optimism appeared misplaced, particularly as the two countries had failed to move forward much on a number of issues with the backing of 27 EU nations as part of the EU-India free trade talks. She also noted that Britain’s stance on the movement of people had been the “fly in the ointment” of the EU-India FTA.
She also argued that recent developments on the global stage — including the Trump administration’s relinquishment of global leadership on issues such as climate change—provided India an opportunity to show international leadership in an area “it has never been so badly needed in”.
Acknowledging Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn’s past criticisms of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, she said that he regularly met with people who were not “natural allies. “He will always criticise where he thinks criticism should be leveled...” she said.
She said the Labour party’s concerns around Kashmir came from a concern about human rights.
She added that the issue of Kashmir had to be settled by India and Pakistan “coming together with both being prepared to compromise and expend a bit of political capital”.
