The Australian government on Tuesday asked its citizens to exercise high degree of caution while travelling to India amid the ongoing nation-wide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
Last week, US, UK, Singapore, Canada and Israel had warned their citizens against travelling to northeast India in view of the violent protests against CAA.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) issued an advisory for Australian citizens which stated, "Demonstrations against the new Citizenship Amendment Act are taking place in parts of the country. Some have turned violent."
Protests against CAA have taken place in the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana and Delhi-NCR. There are "reports of violence," it noted.
It also referred to possible terrorist attacks that could occur anywhere at any time and that it may be targeted towards foreigners and popular tourist areas. "Avoid possible targets. Take official warnings seriously," the statement said.
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"Due to high risk of violence, travellers should reconsider their travel to Assam (except Guwahati), Nagaland, Manipur, Chhattisgarh and the border areas of neighbouring states," it further said.
The advisory also asked Australian travellers not to visit Jammu and Kashmir and the India-Pakistan border.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday termed violent protests across the country against the CAA as "unfortunate and deeply distressing", and appealed to people to stay away from rumour-mongering and not let "vested interests" divide the society.