NEW DELHI, June 5: Britain has ordered its citizens to leave immediately from India and Pakistan in view of a heightened threat of a war that could go nuclear, official sources said on Wednesday.

“There was an advisory previously asking citizens to leave the region, now there is an order,” a reliable source told Dawn.

The latest British decision tallies with fears expressed by several other diplomatic missions some of whom have suspended issuance of visas locally over fears of a flood of asylum seekers. Earlier, US officials in New Delhi said chances of a war between India and Pakistan were serious and unbelievably real.

The latest British measure appears to have been prompted by the interview that appeared in the London Times on Wednesday in which India’s hawkish Home Minister Lal Krishan Advani has warned of military action against Pakistan if international diplomacy fails to persuade Islamabad to comply with the international advice to rein in Islamic militants in Kashmir.

Ahead of the visit of two top American officials to India and Pakistan, Advani was quoted as saying if international efforts to force Pakistan to stop “cross-border terrorism” fails, New Delhi would consider military action.

The international community still has the power to avert a military conflict. “If Washington decides to force Pakistan, it will do it,” Advani said in an interview to the The Times.

India, he said, believes militant activity would restart once the international spotlight on Kashmir fades. “Stoppage of infiltration does not satisfy us. They can afford to do that for a couple of months,” Advani said.

Advani said measures taken by President Pervez Musharraf to stop militants crossing into Kashmir were tactical moves made under duress.

“Pakistan is taking certain decisions in respect of terrorism under pressure and those, too, only as tactical moves, which can be reversed after some time,” he said.

Newspapers said that reduced staff at certain foreign missions in New Delhi and Mumbai has affected visa processing. This reduction in staff follows the May 31 travel advisory about the heightened tensions between India and Pakistan.

Some newspapers were inclined to dismiss the diplomatic measures as an Anglo-Saxon conspiracy to mount pressure against a war.

“Anglo-Saxon psywar on New Delhi doesn’t scare the rest of the world,” said a headline in a business daily.

Meanwhile, several foreign news organizations were looking for nuclear shelters to be able to cover what they believe would be the world’s first nuclear war.

One news group was believed to be negotiating with the Indian government’s DRDO military firm for a locally produced nuclear shelter. One shelter is believed capable of housing 40 people for two-weeks. The cost runs at about 12,000 rupees per person, including food and sanitation.—JN