NEW DELHI, Nov. 11—The Indian Government said today that it had “taken note of” foreign newsmen's requests to travel to the tense border areas of East Pakistan, but said its recent ban was necessary to insure “the safety of foreign guests.”

The ban does not apply to Indian journalists, who have always been able to move freely around the East Pakistan border.

Last March, when the Pakistani Army's crackdown in East Pakistan set off civil strife there, India opened its entire 1,350‐mile border around East Pakistan to foreign journalists and dignitaries because India wanted foreigners to see the millions of East Pakistani refugees who have fled into India.

But a virtually total ban was imposed about two weeks ago on travel by foreigners to the border, where increasingly frequent clashes between Indian and Pakistani troops have occurred.