WASHINGTON, July 22: The US on Monday lifted restrictions on travel to India, imposed at the height of border tensions, with a warning not to visit Pakistan.

“US government officials are now allowed to travel freely to India on official business,” said a statement issued by the State Department. “Those US government personnel in non-emergency positions and all family members who departed earlier are now returning to India.”

The department said it expects the US embassy and consulates in India to operate at normal staffing levels in the near future.

Explaining the decision the department said: “the high level of tension between India and Pakistan that existed at the end of May and the beginning of June has further subsided.”

The department has urged American citizens who travel to or reside in India to avoid travelling to all border areas between India and Pakistan. The warning said that there were terrorist groups inside India — some of them linked to Al Qaeda — and have previously been implicated in attacks on Americans.

The renewed warning on Pakistan, also distributed on Monday with the announcement about India, says that the recent conviction and sentencing of four men charged with the kidnapping and murdering of an American journalist Daniel Pearl has increased risks for Americans in Pakistan.