UK, Germany, Oz advise citizens against going to J&K

The United Kingdom, Germany, and Australia on Saturday advised their citizens against travelling to Jammu and Kashmir.

A day after Jammu and Kashmir Government asked the tourists and Amarnath Yatra pilgrims to leave the valley at the earliest, the Embassy of Germany and the High Commission of the United Kingdom and Australia in New Delhi too issued travel advisories, suggesting that they should avoid travelling to the State.

Citing intelligence inputs about possible terror attacks particularly targeting the Amarnath Yatra, the J&K Government on Friday issued a security alert, asking the pilgrims and the tourists to cut short their visit and leave Kashmir. This prompted UK, Germany, and Australia to alert their citizens too.

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) of the British Government advised UK citizens against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir with the exception of travel within the city of Jammu, travel by air to the city of Jammu and travel within the region of Ladakh. The FCO advised against “all but essential travel to the city of Srinagar and travel between the cities of Jammu and Srinagar on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.” The tourist destinations of Pahalgam, Gulmarg, and Sonmarg fall within the areas to which the FCO advises against all travel, it noted. The British High Commission in New Delhi said that it was monitoring the situation. “If you’re in Jammu and Kashmir, you should remain vigilant, follow the advice of local authorities and keep up to date with developments,” the High Commission stated.

Germany and Australia too issued advisories, discouraging their citizens from travelling to Kashmir.