Americans Are Warned to Avoid India, Pakistan

Americans should not travel to India and Pakistan, the State Department said May 24. Its warning on India urged travelers especially to avoid the state of Jammu and Kashmir and all other areas near the heavily armed border with Pakistan.

It cited “the risk of intensified military hostilities between India and Pakistan,” which have a long-running dispute over the region that has recently heated up.

It was the first time the State Department warned against travel to India during the current crisis. Pakistan was already under a travel warning. The latest one cited tensions with India and also the March 17 attack on an Islamabad church in which two Americans died and the kidnapping and slaying of U.S. journalist Daniel Pearl earlier this year in Karachi.

In other announcements in the last two weeks, the State Department cited the “potential” for terrorist actions against U.S. citizens in the Middle East and North Africa and renewed warnings against travel to Liberia and Macedonia. In Liberia it cited spreading fighting between the government and rebels. In Macedonia, the department said the security situation has improved but remains “unsettled.”

Earlier, it alerted Americans of “possible heightened risks” in Nepal. The announcement, effective through Sept. 15, cited anti-American statements by Maoist rebels and reports of robberies of American trekkers. For more warnings and updates, call (888) 407-4747 or visit www.travel.state.gov.