Why The War Perceptions Differ

Western diplomats based in Delhi say the travel advisories issued by their governments should be viewed neither as diplomacy by other means nor a contribution to a war psychosis, though they concede that this is the effect the advisories are having in this part of the world.

The envoys caution against interpreting the evacuation of citizens as a kind of diplomatic pressure on India. They were treating the advisories as a purely consular matter, they said.

When asked in Almaty whether the evacuation of Western citizens compromised India in any way, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had said evacuation reflected the security perceptions of these countries. He said India was not planning to take up the matter with the leaders of these countries.