As global conflicts and crises rise, India issues number of advisories for its nationals
Bangladesh protest
As more global hotspots and crises emerge, the Indian government has been issuing travel advisories for its nationals. Over the weekend, India's Ministry of External Affairs issued an updated advisory for Bangladesh in which it "strongly advised" Indians against travelling to the country that has seen increased violence in the last 24 hours.
The MEA statement said, "All Indian nationals presently in Bangladesh are advised to exercise extreme caution, restrict their movements and remain in contact with the High Commission of India in Dhaka through their emergency phone numbers". Over 8000 Indian students have left Bangladesh since the outbreak of violence in the last few weeks.
Last week saw India issuing an advisory for Lebanon and Israel as the situation worsens in the backdrop of the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran which Iran blames on Israeli authorities. Some strong reaction is being expected from Iran, keeping West Asia on the edge.
The Indian embassy in Lebanon issued threeback-to-back advisories, the last one advising Indians against all travel to and from Lebanon. The Indian embassy in Israel asked its nationals to "stay vigilant and adhere to the safety protocols". Meanwhile, Air India has suspended flights to Tel Aviv. Israel has 26000 Indians, Iran has 10,000 Indians and Lebanon has 4000 Indians.
Not just the neighbourhood and West Asia, India has alerted its nationals in Nigeria and Kenya as well since both countries faceinternal crisis and have significant presence of Indians.
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While these advisories have been issued in the past few months, Indian advisories have been issued for specific reasons and for specific strata of society. For example, India has advisories for Indian students in the US, Canada and Russia where reports have emerged of Indian students losing lives. In South East Asia, advisories for Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia where Indians have found themselves being the target of fake job racket scams.
Not just travel advisories, but threecountries have been banned for Indians to visit. These are five provinces of Iraq, Yemen and Libya. As per the travel advisory issued on February 18, 2020, Indian nationals should not travel to five provinces of Iraq, namely Nineveh, Salahuddin, Diyala, Anbar and Kirkuk due to the security situation.
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India issued an advisory on Yemen in 2016/2017 under which all Indian nationals are strongly advised to avoid travelling to Yemen under any circumstances. The passport or travel document issued by the Government of India is invalid for travel to Yemen. India announced a travel ban for Libya in May 2016.