Agricultural reform is a domestic policy issue of India, the Leader of the House of Commons has said in Parliament, reflecting the UK government's stance over the farmer protests in New Delhi.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, in response to demands for a debate over the issue in the chamber from Opposition Labour MPs on Thursday, acknowledged that the issue is a "matter of concern" for the Commons and across constituencies in the UK and that Britain will continue to champion human rights globally, including through its current chairmanship of the United Nations.
“India is a very proud democracy and a country with which we have the strongest possible relations. I happen to think that over the next century, our relationship with India may well be our most important relationship with any country in the world,” said Rees-Mogg, a senior Conservative Party member of Parliament who serves as the party's Leader in the House of Commons, the lower house of Parliament.
“As India is our friend, it is only right that we make representations when we think that things are happening that are not in the interests of the reputation of the country of which we are a friend,” he said, adding that UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has raised the matter with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his India visit in December last year.