NEW DELHI – US and other western countries have asked their citizens toexercise caution in their travels India due to reported incidents of crimeand violence.
The US reviewed its advisories placing India on Level 2 and suggestingincreased caution. Canada also issued its updated travel advisory on March21 asking citizens to “exercise a high degree of caution in India due to acontinuing threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country at all times”.
The UK in its February 21, 2018, dated advisory suggested a high degree ofcaution as “terrorists are very likely to try to carry out attacks inIndia” and asked the British to “be vigilant” in the wake of “an increasedthreat to places visited by British nationals such as religious sites,markets, festival venues and beaches”.
International travel advisories against India are “hugely biased” and”uncalled for” because crime and violent incidents in the country are only”few and far between”, says Union Tourism Minister K.J. Alphons.
In an interview with IANS, the minister asserted India was a “perfectlysafe” tourist destination for foreigners and the government was makingefforts to get negative advisories against the country removed.
“Most of these advisories are hugely biased. I don’t want to use the wordracially biased. Like the advisory for Assam is still on Level 2. Why? Suchadvisories are completely uncalled for,” he said.
Mr Alphons said the External Affairs Ministry had been taking up the issuewith various countries and of course Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s globaldiplomacy was the “best message” that painted India as a safe place.
“You know incidents are deplorable but they are so few and far between. Theissue is that the foreign media is hugely biased against India.”