The Hindu : Australia revises travel advisory

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Jun 25, 2002

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Australia revises travel advisory

By Pranab Dhal Samanta

NEW DELHI JUNE 24. Australia, one of the first countries along with the U.S. and the U.K. to ask its citizens to leave India in the wake of Indo-Pak tension, today "slightly'' downgraded its advisory.

The revised advisory no longer asks Australians to leave. The earlier travel note updated on May 29 had said: "Australians in India are strongly advised to consider departing using available commercial means.'' This line has now been omitted.

The Australian Government has also modified its earlier suggestion to its citizens to defer "all travel'' to India. Now, the advisory asks them to defer all ``holiday'' and "non-essential'' travel. Insiders in the Australian High Commission here say this would mean that those with important business in India could now come over.

As for the assessment of the situation, the revised advisory said that while tensions between India and Pakistan had "eased'', the situation remained "unpredictable''. It continues to advise Australians in India to register themselves with the High Commission here and to closely monitor developments related to their security.

There has, however, been no decision on recalling the non-essential diplomatic staff who were asked to leave after the Australian officials sensed an increase in tensions. This had adversely impacted the High Commission's Immigration services here.

With its Mumbai office closed, the High Commission here is offering only limited visa services

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