Foreigners feel tensions in Delhi

Foreigners from many countries are being urged to go

By Jill McGivering BBC Delhi correspondent

Many foreigners in Delhi are still struggling to assess how likely war really is.

The announcement of a series of advisories from Britain, the United States, Canada and several other western countries that nationals should consider leaving has clearly heightened existing anxieties.

Many now take the growing tension far more seriously.

But for ordinary people living and working in major cities like Delhi, daily life still seems very normal.

Jack Straw urged Britons to leave India and Pakistan

Businesses, restaurants and shops are open as usual - many of India's national newspapers seem as focused on events at the World Cup as they do on tensions along the border.

Staff at one international hotel said occupancy had been down for a long time, as a result of the general slump in tourism and business travel to the region since the military campaign in Afghanistan.

But one hotel employee told me, he'd felt a definite increase in anxiety.

Foreigners had constantly been asking him what he thought would happen and whether it was safe for them to stay, he said.

Sense of unease

Shops which usually have a large foreign clientele seemed quieter than usual.

Many foreign residents and families leave India at this time of year anyway to escape the heat and because the school term has just ended at local international schools.

That pattern seems to make it acceptable for dependants to leave - while working parents stay behind.

One Canadian woman said many mothers she'd met were now planning to take their children elsewhere.

"Families are a little bit more willing to pick up and go," she said.

The UN is evacuating the families of its staff

"Especially as school is over too. There isn't that much keeping them here, so there's no point in risking anything."

But there's also an uneasy sense of uncertainty.

"I'm fairly tense", said one British woman, who was out shopping.

"We were planning to go on Thursday anyway but I'm thinking about bringing the flight forward if we can get one.

"It's just the threat of nuclear war really," she added. "I'm just not sure what's going to happen."

Uncertain future

Many people said their companies had already responded to the increase in threat.

One Canadian said his company now had arrangements in place to evacuate staff at short notice, should it become necessary. He hadn't thought seriously about it, he said - but he would now.

Another British woman, Bridget Edwards, said her husband's company had already told all staff, apart from heads of station, to leave.

Word is starting to spread. Everyone is booking flights to get out this week

Bridget Edwards, Delhi

"A lot of my friends are now saying they need to get out of Delhi. Word is starting to spread. Everyone is booking flights to get out this week," she said.

Despite the concerns, there's no sign of mass panic.

One travel agent told us his phone had been ringing off the hook with foreigners of all nationalities saying they wanted to leave as soon as possible.

But another said business was absolutely normal - and he still had seats available on European flights.

Orderly exodus

For many, this is a threat it's impossible for them to gauge - and the sudden call from their home governments to leave is proving sobering.

I met two American academics who only arrived in India 10 days ago.

They'd come for a three-month stay in India, related to their teaching. Now they were cutting it short and heading straight home.

"I'm not an alarmist normally," one of them told me.

"I was here in 1999 when Kargil happened. I was in Delhi and there was shelling going on and that didn't seem to faze me at all.

"It's just I've never seen a travel warning issued for India in the 10 years I've been coming here and so I think that set me back a little bit and made me think about what might happen."