Safety in India
India is not a violent country, but expats should realize that the nation does lack formal infrastructure and often struggles to implement property safety measures outside of the big cities.
Petty crime in India is rampant, but expats will rarely be exposed to robbery or violent crime. Expats in India do stick out in a crowd, thus they are often the victims of pickpocketing, overcharging or small scams.
Delhi has more crime related violence than Mumbai and extra precautions should be taken, such as not walking alone at night and avoiding rough parts of the city.
Road safety depends on the region, but fearless taxi drivers and motorcycle drivers account for many accidents everywhere.
Overall though, the largest safety concern in India for expats is sanitisation and disease. To be safe, only drink bottled water and use private medical centres for treatment.
Certain parts of India, those less travelled to, are often scarred with sectarian violence. These skirmishes are not directed at foreigners and following government travel warnings, expats will easily avoid any problems. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were a rare incident involving foreigners. Heightened security in Mumbai will be evident at transportation stations and some popular tourist sites. Yet the attacks were an isolated incident and a threat of terrorism is for the most part not a concern in India.
Petty crime in India is rampant, but expats will rarely be exposed to robbery or violent crime. Expats in India do stick out in a crowd, thus they are often the victims of pickpocketing, overcharging or small scams.
Delhi has more crime related violence than Mumbai and extra precautions should be taken, such as not walking alone at night and avoiding rough parts of the city.
Road safety depends on the region, but fearless taxi drivers and motorcycle drivers account for many accidents everywhere.
Overall though, the largest safety concern in India for expats is sanitisation and disease. To be safe, only drink bottled water and use private medical centres for treatment.
Certain parts of India, those less travelled to, are often scarred with sectarian violence. These skirmishes are not directed at foreigners and following government travel warnings, expats will easily avoid any problems. The terrorist attacks in Mumbai in 2008 were a rare incident involving foreigners. Heightened security in Mumbai will be evident at transportation stations and some popular tourist sites. Yet the attacks were an isolated incident and a threat of terrorism is for the most part not a concern in India.
