Envoys of over 42 countries, led by external affairs minister S. Jaishankar, went on an early morning elephant and Jeep safari in Kaziranga National Park on Monday, a move which was initiated to attract both tourism and investment to the state by showcasing its natural beauty and improved law and order situation.

The nearly three-hour safari, which started at 5.30pm, saw the envoys and Jaishankar enthusiastically participating in the safari with some of the envoys describing the experience in KNP as “incredible” and “amazing”.

The EAM posted on X before travelling to Guwahati, “ An early morning safari @kaziranga_National Park, along with Ambassadors. Assam’s natural wildlife scenes are indeed stunning and pristine. Next stop- Advantage Assam 2.0.” He told reporters that he wanted Assam and the Northeast as a whole to get more international attention for tourism and investment while expressing his joy at the increasing tourist footfall in KNP.

The Italian envoy said the park was an amazing place and the trip was a sort of “rhino diplomacy” having watched the park’s key tourist attraction: the one-horned rhinoceros. He hoped that their visit to the amazing region could attract investment and businesses.

A Swedish envoy said he would carry with him lifelong memories, adding that the Northeast was a new market for them.

The move for the travel of the envoys within the state from Jorhat to Guwahati, the safari in Kaziranga, the participation in the mega jhumoir dance and investment summit was to showcase to the world that Assam was a “peaceful and vibrant investment and tourist destination” so that any adverse travel advisory was withdrawn to facilitate the flow of tourism and investment to the state.

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said a few days ago that travel advisories of countries such as the US, Australia, New Zealand and Japan want its tourists to avoid the the Northeast because of the law and order situation.

Sarma posted on X that the EAM and the ambassadors “had some very good sightings in Kaziranga” and that he was “looking forward to hearing more about their visit during today’s #JhumoirBinandini” which was staged in Guwahati.

The envoys had reached Jorhat in a special plane on Monday and then travelled to Kaziranga where they spent the night.