Five months after Pulwama terror attack, Western countries continue to advise citizens against visiting J&K

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More than five months after the February 14 Pulwama terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), major Western countries continue to maintain advisories to their citizens against travelling to the state, according to a report by The Hindu.

The report states the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), France, Canada, Germany and Australia have decided to maintain their advisories on Kashmir Valley at the "highest danger" level.

According to the advisory released in March by the US State Department, citizens were asked not to travel to J&K except for the areas of "eastern Ladakh region and its capital, Leh" due to "terrorism and civil unrest".

Similarly, the UK's Foreign and Commonwealth Office had advised its citizens against all travel to J&K, "with the exception of i) travel within the city of Jammu, (ii) travel by air to the city of Jammu, and (iii) travel within the region of Ladakh".

The report states that the advisories have had a negative impact on the state's tourism, which receives a large number of tourists from the countries every season. According to the State Tourism Department, as opposed to the 13 lakh tourists which had travelled to the state in 2016, the first half of 2019 recorded only 3.54 lakh visits.

The report states that in 2018, 9,517; 2,360; and 3,031 tourists had travelled to the state during the months of April, May and June respectively. In 2019, however, the number has fallen to 8,167; 1,293; and 2,669 for the same months.

According to Manzoor Pakthoon, head of J&K Tourism Alliance, a trade grouping, domestic tourists have also been facing inconvenience during recent months, particularly after "strict security measures on the highways for the Amarnath Yatra".

"We need to have tourism police on the highways to ensure tourists are not harassed, lest we face a major dent to tourism economy," Pakthoon added.

State Tourism Secretary Rigzin Samphel said the government is "analysing Sri Lanka tourism’s campaign (launched after the April blasts in the island nation)" to understand how they can attract foreign tourists to the state again.

"They came out with an impressive campaign that has been well received," Samphel said.