Indian Government Assures Safety for Indonesian Tourists

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - India's government has made assurance that foreigners, including Indonesians, visiting destinations, including Jammu and Kashmir, will be offered complete safety and protection despite ongoing conflicts and protests, Indian Tourism Office's representative R. K. Suman stated.

"Our government has committed to protecting and guaranteeing the safety of all foreign tourists by providing a round-the-clock helpline and an easy access to phone cards that will enable the tourists to contact the authority in charge," Suman stated here late Friday at the event organized by India's Embassy in Indonesia and the Singapore-based Indian Tourism Office.

The tourists can directly call the free hotline number 1800-11-1363, with a short code 1363, to seek answers to their queries regarding the trip to India or to report a problem during their visit, Suman added.

Although Kashmir had earlier been embroiled in clashes, the dispute has been settled, and foreign tourists can now visit the province to experience its beautiful natural landscapes, located at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains, he reiterated.

Beside Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian government is also offering other destinations, including Bhubaneswar, Srinagar, Hyderabad, and the country's northeast region.

"Our government provides a wide-range of attractions, such as medical, religious, cultural, and adventure tourism for foreigners," Suman stated.

The Friday's event held under the theme "Incredible India Evening" was attended by the embassy's First Secretary Madan Kumar Ghildiyal, Deputy Chief of Mission Manish, Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry's Director of South and Central Asia Division Ferdy Nico Yohannes who was appointed as the event's guest of honor, Indonesian Tourism Ministry's Assistant Deputy of Asia-Pacific Market Development Afrida Pelitasari, as well as the two countries' travel agents.

As the embassy's guest of honor, Yohannes remarked that the evening event was a good step to strengthen the relations between Indonesia and India.

"Indonesia and India have a longstanding history that could serve as a good basis to advance the two countries' strategic partnership," Yohannes stated at the evening event.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has specifically tasked the ministry with improving trade and encouraging "people-to-people" relations with India, the Foreign Affairs Ministry's director remarked.

"People-to-people relations" between India and Indonesia cover several sectors, including education, scientific and medical developments, trading and investment, technology, and also tourism.

"Both countries have actually signed several memoranda of understanding on partnerships in several sectors, including the transfer of medical knowledge, which will be shared by Indian experts with their counterparts from Indonesia in the upcoming months," he reiterated. (WDY)