India is a safe tourist destination: Tourism Minister

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”, said Union Tourism Minister K J Alphons.

He also asserted that India was a “perfectly safe” tourist destination for foreigners and the government was making efforts to get negative advisories against the country removed. The minister said this in an interview with IANS.

“Most of these advisories are hugely biased. Why is the advisory for Assam is still on Level 2? Such advisories are completely uncalled for,” the minister added.

The External Affairs Ministry has been taking up this issue with various countries. The remarks came against the backdrop of the recent advisory put forward by the US and western countries asking its citizens to exercise caution in their travels due to reported incidents of crime and violence in India.

US issued a Level 2 advisory on India in January suggesting increased caution. Canada also issued its advisory asking citizens to exercise a high degree of caution in India due to continuing threat of terrorist attacks throughout the country at all times.