Navdeep Suri, the Indian high commissioner in Australia has expressed concern about the language used in the travel advisory pertaining to India, and said that the matter has been taken up with the Australian government.
“This is a sensitive issue and we have taken this up with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.”
“The language that has been used is very unfortunate. It’s our responsibility to make the authorities aware that this kind of language affects the sentiments of the Indians here,” said Mr. Suri.
In its revised travel advisory, the DFAT cited terrorism, crime against women, and incidents of sexual harassment at religious places in India, to advise Australians to remain vigilant while they undertake travel to the country.
“I admit there have been some incidents. But to generalize a handful of incidents and brand the country is utterly wrong,” said Mr. Suri.
He said there is a tendency by the bureaucracy in Australia to use an “extreme-language” and play safe. He said similar language had been used for countries, such as South Africa, Indonesia and France. He said the tourist may be wary of travelling to these countries, as a result.
Also in this interview, Mr Suri gave information about phasing out of PIO (Person of Indian Origin) card and the opportunity to convert them into OCI (Overseas Citizen of India) card for free, if the application is made before June 30, 2016.
