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Congress slams govt over US travel advisory, calls it diplomatic failure
The Congress party on Tuesday strongly objected to the recent travel advisory issued by the US State Department urging American citizens to exercise 'increased caution' while travelling to India due to 'crime and terrorism'. At a press conference, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate criticised the Modi government, calling it a 'diplomatic failure' at a time when India needs international cooperation and support.
US warns women against solo travel in India
Shrinate expressed alarm over the advisory's specific warning to women against travelling alone in India. The US State Department's Level 2 alert states: 'Rape is one of the fastest growing crimes in India,' and that 'violent crimes, including sexual assault, occur at tourist sites and other locations.' It further warns that 'terrorists may attack with little or no warning'.
Shrinate: Govt's silence damages foreign policy credibility
Shrinate argued that the development reflects poorly on the Modi administration's international credibility. Drawing a parallel to a previous episode, she recalled how the government remained silent when former US President Donald Trump falsely claimed—on 17 occasions including three tweets and 14 on-camera statements—to have brokered a ceasefire between India and Pakistan.
Critique of US double standards and Pakistan policy
The Congress spokesperson also accused the United States of hypocrisy. While India faces a Level 2 advisory, she noted, no such travel alert had been issued for Pakistan, which she described as a 'terror state'. She criticised the US for issuing the advisory while simultaneously engaging with Pakistan's military leadership, including Chief of Army Staff General Asif Munir.
Advisory impacts tourism, investment: Congress
'A sound foreign policy puts India's interests first,' said Shrinate. 'But this government is more concerned about getting the camera angle right.' She warned that the US advisory is more than a diplomatic note—it has tangible consequences for India's global image, tourist inflows, and foreign investment sentiment. 'Institutional investors consider such advisories before committing capital,' she added.
Women's safety crisis highlighted
Shifting focus to domestic issues, Shrinate said the advisory only reinforces ongoing concerns about the safety of women in India. She stated that '43 women face crime in India every hour,' and alleged that, despite rising violence, funding for key women's protection schemes has been slashed.
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Would take too long, too dangerous, and very heavy and hard to move!" Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters that the bombs were dropped onto the two main ventilation shafts of Fordo. He said Iran attempted to cover the shafts with concrete before the U.S. attack, but the cap was "forcibly removed by the main weapon." Centrifuges are highly sensitive and vulnerable to damage Inspectors from the IAEA have remained in Iran throughout the war, but they are currently unable to inspect any nuclear sites due to safety concerns. But with the "explosive payload utilized, and the extreme vibration-sensitive nature of centrifuges," the agency believes "very significant damage is expected to have occurred" as a result of U.S. airstrikes at Fordo, according to a statement from IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi to the agency's board earlier this week. The centrifuges there are "no longer operational," Grossi told Radio France Internationale on Thursday. Centrifuges are used to enrich uranium - and could eventually bring it up to weapons-grade levels, if Iran chooses to do so. Natanz, Iran's biggest enrichment site, also houses centrifuges. In its underground plant, the IAEA believes most if not all of the centrifuge cascades - groups of centrifuges working together to more quickly enrich uranium - were destroyed by an Israeli strike that cut off power to the site. Its aboveground plant has also been "functionally destroyed," the agency said. Strikes also caused "extensive damage" at Isfahan, according to the IAEA, especially at the uranium conversion facility and the plant for making uranium metal that's vital to producing a nuclear bomb. What the damage means for Iran's program is disputed Much like Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said Iran's nuclear program has been brought "to ruin." The Israel Atomic Energy Commission believes the recent strikes have set back Tehran's ability to develop an atomic weapon by years. Israeli officials have not said how they reached this assessment. The DIA assessment, however, suggested that Iran's nuclear program has been set back only a few months, according to the people familiar with it. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, speaking in an interview with Politico, limited his own evaluation to saying Iran was "much further away from a nuclear weapon today than they were before the president took this bold action." Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said that Trump "exaggerated" the impact of the American strikes.
