New Delhi: The new advisory issued today by the US Government cautions American tourists from traveling to India asking its citizens to “exercise increased caution” due to “crime and terrorism” prevailing in India.
The updated Level-2 travel advisory urges its citizens not to travel to Jammu and Kashmir, except east Ladakh and Leh, due to the existence of “terrorism and civil unrest” in the region, asking them to stay away in the border areas of India-Pakistan, stating these regions have a “potential for armed conflict,” and cautioning women tourists to avoid travelling alone in India.
“Indian authorities report rape is one of the fastest growing crimes in India. Violent crime, such as sexual assault, has occurred at tourist sites and in other locations,” said the travel advisory of the US government’s.
The advisory added, “Terrorist attacks and violent civil unrest are possible in the state of Jammu and Kashmir,” and asked its citizens to completely avoid traveling to the state.
It further goes on saying, “Incidents of violence by ethnic insurgent groups, including bombings of buses, trains, rail lines, and markets, occur occasionally in the northeast,” while regions mentioned in the advisory included “eastern Maharashtra and northern Telangana through western West Bengal” as well as ” rural parts of Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand and… the borders of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Odisha,” were the Maoist extremists groups are ‘active’.
The advisory further goes on adding US employees are mandated to take special authorization from US consulate general offices before traveling to states with Naxalite activity or the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Manipur, reported India Today.