“Exercise increased caution in India due to crime and terrorism,” said the State Department.
The US on Friday asked its citizens to exercise “increased caution” while travelling to India due to “crime and terrorism” and advised them to not to travel to the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
In a new travel advisory issued on Friday, the US State Department reduced the India Travel Advisory Level to 2 on a scale of one to 4 with the latter being the highest.
A day before, the State Department had downgraded Pakistan to Level 3 and urged its nationals to rethink their travel plans, particularly to its unrest-ridden areas.
The State Department advised heightened vigilance in India because of crime and terrorism.
“Due to terrorism and civil turmoil, avoid travelling to: The union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, with the exception of the eastern Ladakh region and its capital, Leh. Due to the possibility of armed confrontation, within 10 kilometres of the Pakistan-India border, “It read.
In accordance with the travel advice, “According to Indian officials, rape is one of the crimes that is increasing the quickest in India. Sexual assault and other violent crimes have happened in public places, including tourist attractions.”
According to the alert, “terrorists may attack with little to no warning, targeting tourist destinations, transit hubs, markets/shopping malls, and government buildings.”
According to the travel advice, “the US government has limited capacity to provide emergency services to US citizens in rural areas from eastern Maharashtra and northern Telangana through western West Bengal.” This is because US government employees need special permission to travel to these regions.