India asks nationals to avoid travel to Japan, move from Tokyo

New Delhi, Mar 17 (PTI) A week after Japan was hit by a
devastating tsunami triggered by a massive quake, India on
Thursday asked its nationals to avoid non-essential travel to
that country and said Indians residing in Tokyo and areas
closer to the exclusion zone declared by Japan government
should consider moving to safer areas.
The Ministry of External Affairs and Indian Embassy in
Tokyo are continuously monitoring the situation in Japan and
are in regular touch with representatives of the Indian
community across the country and the Japanese authorities.
"All Indian nationals are reported to be safe and have
been advised to take precautions suggested by the Japanese
authorities from time to time.... For the time being,
non-essential travel to Japan may also be avoided," MEA said
in a release.
"Indian nationals from Tokyo and areas closer to the
exclusion zone declared by the government of Japan may
consider moving to safer areas as a precaution," it said.
Air India has also introduced daily flights with enhanced
seat capacity to Japan to assist those who wish to travel
back.
Japan was hit by a massive earthquake on March 11,
causing giant tsunami waves and is currently struggling to
avert a meltdown at some of its nuclear installations.