The Indian government has rejected Google’s plan to capture major cities, tourist spots, and rivers for Street View. Using a 360-degree camera on a car, Google captures cities and other tourist spots that can then be viewed from Google Maps and Google Earth.

The Home Ministry of India believes that letting Google capture key cities and tourist location and then making them available on Street View is a potential security risk that they are not willing to take. The ministry arrived at this decision after a detailed analysis by security and defence agencies of the country. The agencies believe that a terrorist attack in India in 2008 in Mumbai was successful because the terrorists made use of Google Maps to find key information about the area.

Security establishment got wary of allowing such image-capturing given that planning for the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai is believed to have involved photographic reconnaissance of targets by Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley.

Google had tied up with the Archaeological Society of India to offer Street View imagery for some of the most popular tourist destinations in India including Taj Mahal, Red Fort, Qutub Minar, Mysore Palace, and more. The company was interested in further expanding Street View imagery in India, but its request has been turned down by the Indian government.

Google Street View is hugely popular in many European countries, United States, and Canada, allowing one to view almost all the popular tourist locations, cities, and streets through it.