By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Union Tourism Minister Subadh Kant Sahay Tuesday said the abduction of two Italian nationals by Maoists in Odisha will not have any adverse impact on tourism in the country.
Describing the crisis as a very sensitive issue, Sahay, however, emphasized the need to build an inter-state coordination mechanism among the Maoist insurgency-affected states to ensure safe tourism.
“No abduction is made from any tourist destination. Therefore, how can one conclude that tourist spots are unsafe,” Sahay told reporters here during a visit.
The Italians, Bosusco Paolo and Claudio Colangelo, were abducted on the morning of March 14 from the state’s communally sensitive Kandhamal district, over 200 km from here.
The Maoists, who want the government to fulfill 13 demands, have given a deadline of Tuesday evening for their release and named three interlocutors to begin a dialogue with the Odisha government.