Sweden has issued travel warnings for parts of India and Pakistan where it deems the security situation to be dangerous, unpredictable or likely to change at short notice.

Sweden has advised against all types of travel to the Indian Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, as well as any parts of India within ten kilometres of the India-Pakistan border. Swedish citizens currently in India have not been advised to leave the country.

In Pakistan, Sweden has issued a travel warning for all types of travel in the parts of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan or any areas within ten kilometres of the border with India. This is in addition to a previous recommendation from 2005 to avoid visiting the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa or Baluchistan provinces.

In both countries, the Foreign Ministry’s recommendations are due to the worsened security situation.

There are three different levels of travel warnings issued by the Foreign Ministry. The least severe recommends against unnecessary trips, such as tourist trips or other leisure visits. The middle level is a warning against all types of travel – the type of warning issued for the above regions of India and Pakistan – and the strictest level includes a warning against all types of travel as well as a recommendation to leave the country.

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If you choose to travel anyway, your travel insurance will most likely not be valid and it may be difficult for the Swedish embassy or foreign ministry to help you if something happens. 

If you are already in the areas affected by the travel recommendation, it may be a good idea to add your name to the Foreign Ministry’s Swedish List, Svensklistan, where you can provide your details if they need to contact you in an emergency. You don’t have to be a Swedish citizen to do this, although the assistance available to you from the Swedish ministry may be limited if you are not a Swedish citizen.

There is an up-to-date list of all countries and regions where travel warnings are in place on the website of the Swedish Foreign Ministry.