The United Nations took the unprecedented step of joining Western governments in recently portraying India as an unsafe place to be in, with UNICEF executive director Carol Bellamy even opting out of the launch of a nationwide campaign against Hepatitis B on June 10 by none other than Prime Minister A B Vajpayee.Bellamy cancelled because she followed the advice of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s office that India was an unsafe place to travel to at the time, because of the heightened tension with Pakistan.Clearly, the fact that the US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage was in Delhi on June 7 did not wash with Annan’s office.According to Maria Calivis, UNICEF’s representative in India, the UN advice was given on ‘‘security considerations,’’ since the UN security coordinator had only days earlier on May 31 issued a security alert that called for relocating dependents of international staff in India and minimising travel to the region.At the time, the government kept a stiff upper lip at the sight of Western diplomats leaving in droves, with the PM in Almaty only calling it an ‘‘unfortunate’’ spectacle. Uppermost in New Delhi’s mind, then, was the sucess of the high-stakes strategy called ‘‘coercive diplomacy’’ which called for exercising the threat of war against Pakistan. Three weeks down the line, with none of the frightening Western advice in sight of being revoked—even after US Defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld reassuringly told CNN after his trip to the region that the ‘‘fear of war is now over’’—New Delhi’s joy at winning this round against Pakistan, seems to be turning into quiet anger at the Western world.The government continues to remain tight-lipped about the fact that the Western exodus shows little sign of returning, at least not yet. Sources point to the ‘‘unofficial Western sanctions in place against India,’’ exhorting New Delhi not only to completely end the tension with Pakistan, but in fact get back to the negotiating table on Kashmir. The government also realises that if the various travel advisories are not revoked very soon, the economy could begin to hurt. While, diplomatic sources pointed to the ‘‘linkages’’ between revocation and ‘‘irrevocable’’ deescalation. ‘‘The de-escalation’s got to keep moving, at the moment its looking good, but the world needs to be sure,’’ sources said.What really infuriates New Delhi, though, is the fact that the UN, of which India is an active member, could allow itself to be persuaded by the ‘‘considerations of a few’’ to act in this way. In this case the US, UK, Canada, Japan and Australia. Bellamy’s absence at the Hepatitis B launch campaign was particularly noticed because the perceived ‘‘threat’’ of war was in no way comparable to reality, the sources said.No other missions—nobody from Africa, Latin America, South America, South-East Asia (except Malaysia), China, or from India’s neighbourhood—warned its citizens to leave India. When diplomats from these nations approached the MEA for advice for the safety of their nationals, they were told to just stay put. Western diplomats now admit that the ‘‘withdrawal’’ was triggered by the US ambassador to India Robert Blackwill, who not only emptied his own embassy and four consulates across the country, but also urged other G-8 nations to follow suit. Blackwill is said to have called a meeting of the G-8 ambassadors in his own embassy at the unearthly hour of 7.45 am, one G-8 ambassador said, to persuade his colleagues that it was ‘‘very dangerous’’ to stay on.The UK mission heeded his advice: today, 40 international staff out of the original 200-plus are left and services are down to basic—along with the Japanese embassy here, which put together two flights to pull out nationals. Japanese ambassador Hiroshi Hirabayashi called a second meeting of the G-8 ambassadors in the capital to underline the score. Significantly, Italy refused to even issue a travel advisory. France and Germany did offer cautionary advice, but made it purely voluntary, with the result that nobody from any of these embassies left. Russia merely warned that the border areas were dangerous.In fact, investigations into the travel advisories issued by Western governments in end May-beginning June reveal the very close coordination of action not only between a handful of Western powers, led by the USA and UK, but strangely enough, also with the UN.The US issued its first advisory on May 31, which spoke of the ‘‘voluntary departure of non-emergency personnel and all dependents’’ from its embassy and consulates in India. Also on May 31, the UN security coordinator issued a Phase 3 security declaration, on authorization of the Secretary-General, seeking the withdrawal of all dependents of international staff in India.Meanwhile in London, also on May 31, British foreign secretary Jack Straw was advising his nationals to consider leaving India and, significantly, that the ‘‘US is taking similar action.’’On June 7, around the time Bellamy was checking with Annan’s office in New York, British high commissioner to India Rob Young had put out a stiffer message. ‘‘The situation is now so serious’’ he said, that British nationals as well as all non-emergency diplomatic staff should leave, because if the situation deteriorated, India ‘‘may close its airspace.’’
