Taipei, Sept. 20 (CNA) The Sunday attack of a major New Delhi mosque that injured two Taiwanese men is expected to have a short-term impact on Taiwan-India tourism, an official at India's representative office in Taiwan said Monday.
"The incident will definitely have a negative impact on tourism for at least a short period of time. But our minds are with the victims of the unfortunate incident now. We are glad to know they're doing well, " said You Shiou-yun, Tourism and Culture Section chief at the India-Taipei Association, India's representative office in Taiwan in the absence of official diplomatic ties.
Unidentified gunmen opened fire with automatic rifles on a tourist bus outside Delhi's Jama Masjid mosque Sunday morning, injuring Ke Chiang and Gu Tse-wei, cameramen with a TVBS television team that arrived in India Saturday to film a travel and cuisine show.
Ke was shot in the stomach and underwent a four-hour operation at Lok Nayak hospital where he remains under observation. Gu had a bullet graze his head. They were reported to be in stable condition.
The association was aware of the trip of the TV crew before their departure and immediately contacted the group to express its concerns after the shooting, You said.
The number of Taiwanese traveling to India has been growing steadily in recent years, although the figure dropped from a peak of almost 30,000 annually to around 24,000 in 2009 due to the global financial crisis, according to You.
Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) is not expected to raise its travel alert level for India, which is currently at yellow level -- the second lowest on the ministry's four-scale system, asking travelers to take extra precautions and make a careful evaluation of the necessity of traveling to the destination. The shooting appeared to be an isolated incident, said Ger Baushuan, deputy secretary-general of the MOFA's Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
Travel alerts will not be elevated to orange unless the political situation in a country is considered unstable and poses a significant threat to tourists, Ger added.
The Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the attack in an e-mail sent to the Press Trust of India and other media outlets. According to reports from Indian portal Web site Rediff.com, Indian police suspected that disgruntled youths or a gang of local criminals, rather than a terrorist group, could be behind the incidents.
You also told Central News Agency that the government of India has not identified the gunmen.
Indian Federal Home Minister P. Chidambaram visited the two Taiwanese men in the hospital after the shooting. Taiwan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday that a representative of the Indian government expressed regret for the incident and promised that Indian authorities would catch the assailants. (By Chris Wang) enditem/bc