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More foreigners leaving India

By Our Staff Reporter

British nationals, preparing to leave the country, at the Indira Gandhi international airport in New Delhi on Saturday. — AFP

NEW DELHI JUNE 1. The list of countries and international organisations advising their diplomatic staff and citizens to leave India is gradually swelling. Australia today joined the United States and the United Kingdom in advising its "non-essential'' staff and dependents to leave the country due to the rising tensions between India and Pakistan. The decision, Australian embassy officials said, was prompted more by the uncertainty of the situation than the fear of conflict. While there is no demarcation on who would comprise the "non-essential'' category, the embassy officials hope to finalise the list by Monday.

The United Nations office here too convened a meeting to inform its officials that all family members and dependents would have to leave India during the next week.

It, however, categorically said that its entire staff would continue to work. In all, the U.N. has 184 non-Indian staff members and 260 registered non-Indian dependents here.

``This is not exactly mandatory for all dependents and family members of our staff to observe,'' said the Director of U.N. Information Centre, Feodor Starcevich.

"But if they do not wish to leave the country, they would also no longer remain a responsibility of the U.N. We have, however, set no deadline.''

Insisting that the decision was not a result of any security assessment, Mr. Starcevich preferred to term it as "good house-keeping measures'' — the logic being that thinning down of numbers would make it easier for an emergency evacuation, if the need arises. Similar reasoning was given by many embassies.

Meanwhile, alarmed by their Government's advisory, about 50 "non-emergency'' staff members and dependents of the U.S. embassy officials left the country within hours of its being issued on Friday night. Nearly two-thirds of the U.S. embassy staff come under the "non-emergency'' category. Similarly, about 60 members of the 110 British nationals with the U.K. High Commission and its allied offices have lined up to leave the country soon.

Germany and France have also issued advisories to their nationals. However, both these countries have restricted them to family members and dependents. Their staff will continue to stay on for the time being.

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