India Travel Safety Guide

The short version.

Most visits to India are trouble free, and this page is not an argument against going. It is an account of the specific things the cited advice records, several of which have no equivalent in the destinations around it. Three of them are advisories against travel to named places, one is a law that reaches people who never intend to enter the country, and one is a warning that this page states plainly rather than softening.

The advisories, and the exception inside one of them.

The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office advises against all travel to parts of India. Read at the time of writing, those are the areas within 10km of the India to Pakistan border, where the Wagah to Attari crossing is closed, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. It also advises against all but essential travel to the state of Manipur, where the regional advice records that violent ethnic clashes broke out.

The Jammu and Kashmir advisory contains an exception and it matters. The advice excludes travel by air to and from the city of Jammu, and travel within the city of Jammu, from the advisory against all travel. Repeating the advisory without the exception misdescribes a city that is expressly outside it. Dropping the advisory and keeping the exception is worse. Both halves, always.

The regional advice also records Naxalite insurgency affecting several central and eastern states and unrest in the north eastern states. Advisories move, so check the current text before you book rather than relying on this page's reading of it. The practical consequence is financial as well as physical: travel against an advisory can void your insurance.

The numbers to have.

The emergency services in India are reached on 112 for ambulance, fire and police. The safety advice also gives a police helpline on 100 and a women helpline on 1091, and the consular advice gives an Indian Ministry of Tourism helpline on 1800 11 1363. If you remember one number, remember 112.

Women travelers.

The safety advice records a risk of sexual assault, including attacks on female foreign national visitors in tourist areas and cities. It records that female travelers often experience verbal and physical harassment, that serious sexual attacks involving both Indian and foreign nationals have been reported, and that British women have been victims of sexual assault including rape in several states. It advises avoiding isolated areas, including beaches, when alone at any time of day.

That is what the source says and this page says it in those terms. Recasting it as general advice about staying alert would be a decision to make the page more comfortable at the reader's expense. The women helpline is 1091. If you are traveling alone and want the itinerary built with this in mind, say so and we will build it that way rather than leaving it to chance.

The law that reaches transit.

It is illegal to possess and operate satellite phones and GPS devices in India without a license, and the advice states that this holds even if you are only transiting through India. It may cover other satellite-enabled devices, including handheld or cycling GPS units. People have been arrested and detained for carrying them. The packing list in this cluster covers what to leave at home.

Drugs.

Drugs are not categorized in India as they are in the UK or the United States, and the advice records a minimum sentence of 6 months for possession of small amounts deemed to be for personal consumption, and up to 10 years for other amounts. The clause that matters most is the one about process rather than sentence: the judicial process is slow, and you could be detained for several years while your case is processed. The detention is the part a traveler is most likely to meet.

Alcohol, which changes at a state line.

Laws on alcohol vary by state in India. Consumption, production or transportation is illegal in Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram, Nagaland and the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, where the advice records arrest, being held without bail and a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years. Some states sell 30-day alcohol permits to foreign nationals and non-resident Indians. Drinking in public places such as parks is illegal, and sales are often suspended during major religious festivals, national holidays and elections. One sentence about drinking in India is wrong somewhere in the country, which is why this page gives you the state rule instead.

Vapes and related products are banned outright. You cannot buy them in India and cannot bring them into the country.

If something goes wrong.

This page is mostly about avoiding things, and it should say what to do when avoidance has not worked. Dial 112 and ask for an ambulance. Have your insurer's emergency line somewhere that does not depend on a charged phone, and check before you travel that the policy covers the regions in your itinerary, because cover is void against a government advisory. Register the number of your own country's consulate the same way.

For the medical picture rather than the security one, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention publishes a destination record for India, which recommends that travelers going to certain areas take prescription medicine to prevent malaria and lists Japanese Encephalitis, Hepatitis A and Typhoid. That conversation belongs with a travel health professional at least 8 weeks before departure, and the senior travelers guide in this cluster goes further into it.

Ordinary precautions.

Take care of your passport and leave what you do not need somewhere secure. Use registered transport rather than whatever is nearest at a station exit. Keep a copy of your documents separately from the originals, and keep the number of your own country's consulate somewhere that does not depend on your phone.

How to settle it.

Check the current advisories against your itinerary before you book, not after. Note 112. Leave the satellite device at home. Read the alcohol rule for the states you will actually be in. And tell us anything about how you travel that should shape the itinerary, because that is a conversation we would rather have at the planning stage.

Sources

• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: advises against all travel to parts of India, including within 10km of the India to Pakistan border and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir except travel by air to and within the city of Jammu, advises against all but essential travel to the state of Manipur, and states that no travel can be guaranteed safe. Accessed 22 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: records that the Wagah to Attari border crossing is closed, that the exception to the Jammu and Kashmir advisory is travel by air to and from the city of Jammu and travel within the city of Jammu, that Naxalite insurgency affects several central and eastern states, and that violent ethnic clashes broke out across Manipur. Accessed 22 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: gives the police helpline in India as 100 and the national emergency number as 112, with a women helpline on 1091, records that vapes and related products are banned, that possession of illegal drugs carries a minimum sentence of 6 months for small amounts and that you could be detained for several years while your case is processed, that it is illegal to possess and operate satellite phones and GPS devices in India without a license even if you are only transiting through India, that British women have been victims of sexual assault and that travelers should avoid isolated areas including beaches when alone at any time of day, that alcohol is illegal in Bihar, Gujarat, Mizoram, Nagaland and Lakshadweep with a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years and that some states sell 30-day alcohol permits, that a 1949 version of the international driving permit is needed, and that there are no commercial mountain rescue services operating above 3,000m. Accessed 22 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: gives the emergency services in India as 112 for ambulance, fire and police, and gives an Indian Ministry of Tourism helpline on 1800 11 1363. Accessed 22 September 2026.
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: recommends that travelers going to certain areas of India take prescription medicine to prevent malaria, lists Japanese Encephalitis, Hepatitis A and Typhoid on its India destination record, records that cholera is presumed to be present in India, and notes an elevated chikungunya risk in India. Accessed 22 September 2026.
• UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: advises seeking advice at least 8 weeks before a trip, names dengue and malaria in India, records severe air pollution as a major health hazard especially during the winter months from October to February with north Indian cities most affected, and gives 112 as the number to dial for an ambulance. Accessed 22 September 2026.