A new travel advisory for countries including India was issued by the United States, the officials determined the countries “user friendly” based on ready-to-understand level of advice ranging from one to four.
India has been ranked Level 2 implying exercise increased caution while Pakistan has been placed in Level 3 means to reconsider travel.
Level 1 advises travellers to exercise normal precaution, while Level 4 has countries like Afghanistan suggests the travellers “Do Not Travel”.
The current travel advisory based on this system has replaced all the previous such advisories in every country.
The state department mentioned that these improvements will provide US citizens with clear, timely, and reliable safety and security information across the world.
India was placed on Level 2 and identified the State Department as “crime and terrorism” and suggested Americans to exercise increased caution. It asks Americans not to travel to Jammu and Kashmir, except for eastern Ladakh and Leh and not to venture within 10 miles of the India-Pakistan border due to the “potential for armed conflict”.
While an overall travel advisory level for every country will be issued by the State Department the levels of advice may vary for specific locations or areas within a country.
The new India travel advisory said that Indian authorities reported rape as one of the fastest growing crimes in India. Violent crime, such as sexual assault, has occurred at tourist sites and in other locations too.
While terrorists or armed groups are active in east-central India, primarily in rural areas. It also mentioned that terrorists may attack with little or no warning, targeting tourist locations, transportation hubs, markets/shopping malls, and local government facilities.
Americans were asked to reconsider travel to Pakistan due to terrorism and it was ranked on Level 3.
Further it advised Americans not to travel to travel to Balochistan province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) province, and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) due to terrorism.
