Melbourne: Australia has revised its travel advisory for India, asking its citizens to exercise high degree of caution while travelling to the country, citing high threat of terrorist activities.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) updated its advice on Tuesday warning the Australians travelling to India that militants could be planning another terror attack against upmarket hotels in India’s largest city.
“We continue to advise Australians to exercise a high degree of caution in India overall because of the high threat of terrorist activities, civil unrest and crime and the high rate of vehicle accidents,” DFAT said.
“We continue to receive reports that terrorists are planning attacks in India and assess that attacks could occur anywhere at any time with little or no warning, including in locations frequented by Australians,” it said.
On November 26, 2008, two hotels in Mumbai – the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower and the Oberoi Trident – were among the four locations targeted. Six explosions were reported at the Taj hotel – one in the lobby, two in the elevators and three in the restaurant – and one at the Oberoi Trident. At the Taj Mahal, firefighters rescued 200 hostages from windows using ladders during the first night.
The advisory on Tuesday comes after the US government warned of a potential threat against US-linked hotels and banks in the East Java city of Surabaya.
“This advice contains new information in the summary and under entry and exit India will no longer issue medical visas to Australians planning to commission surrogacy, who reside in Australian states/territories where overseas commercial surrogacy is illegal, and safety and security. However, information of mid-December 2014 indicates that militants may be planning attacks against upmarket hotels in Mumbai,” DFAT added.
DFAT in its update also advised those travelling to Indonesia, urging Australians to “exercise a high degree of caution in Indonesia, including Bali”. It said the alert level had not changed, but had been updated to include a high threat of terrorist attack.
(With PTI inputs)