Four Countries Issue Travel Advisory against India

Ahead of New Year, four major industrialized countries – the US, the UK, Australia and Canada – have issued a travel advisory against India asking their citizens not to travel there, the reason being that they believe India is high on the hit-list of terror groups.

The US advisory says that terror outfits may be plotting strikes on targets frequented by foreign tourists in India.

“We advise you to exercise a high degree of caution in India at this time because of the high risk of terrorist activity by militant groups,” the advisory by US government said.

Canada, in its advisory, warned of high risk terrorism throughout India while Australia advised its citizen to be cautious during visiting India.

“We continue to receive reporting of possible threats against prominent business and tourist locations, including in Mumbai and New Delhi,” the Australian advisory cautioned.

Issuing a similar warning, the website of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK government said that terror strikes are likely at places frequented by foreigners in India.

It should be noted that advisories issued by the US and the UK follow their previous ones which complained about India’s new visa regulations requiring tourists to maintain a two-month gap between the time they exit the country and re-enter it.

Indian security agencies view the new alerts as ‘retaliatory’. External Affairs Minister SM Krishna had on Wednesday dismissed the alerts saying that many foreigners visit and India and they need not fear.

“Let me scotch all speculative reports that India is a country infested by terrorists. I would like to reject this totally. You find thousands of foreigners who have been freely going about wherever they feel like. I would like to assure the foreign tourists, visitors and others that they don’t have to worry about it,” Krishna said in New Delhi on Wednesday.