The United Kingdom on Tuesday partially changed its travel advisory on Jammu and Kashmir and decided to allow Britons to visit the cities of Jammu and Srinagar due to an “overall decline in violence in the state in recent years.”
“We no longer advise against travel to Jammu and Srinagar, nor against travel on the Jammu to Srinagar highway,” the UK foreign office said in the changed travel advisory published on its website on Tuesday, just before the visit of British foreign secretary William Hague to India.
Till now, the UK government advised against all travel to Jammu and Kashmir, except the region of Ladakh. It also used to advise against “all but essential travel” to Srinagar. British high commissioner in India, Sir James Bevan, wrote to Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, informing him about the partial change in the travel advisory.
In the letter, Sir James said he was “confident that this measure will encourage more UK tourists and businesses to visit which should in turn benefit the local economy,” PTI reports from New Delhi.
The change in the UK advisory comes after Japan and Germany changed travel advisories for their citizens over visiting Jammu & Kashmir. Britain estimates that over 800,000 of its nationals visit India every year and the northern state is keen to revive its tourism sector by attracting Western tourists to its cities.
“There has been an increase in the numbers of Indian and western tourists in the state and there have been no recent reported attacks on visitors in the cities of Srinagar or Jammu,” the foreign office said. However, the UK warned its citizens against travelling to other parts of Jammu & Kashmir.
“We advise against all travel to J&K with the exception of the cities of Jammu and Srinagar, travel between these two cities on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, and the region of Ladakh,” the FCO said.