ISLAMABAD: The dramatic pull-out of families of UN personnel and withdrawal of foreigners from India and Pakistan is part of the international community’s efforts to put “concerted pressure” on the nuclear-armed rivals, a high-placed diplomatic source said.

“There is concerted pressure,” the diplomat said after a wave of Western nations announced at the weekend they were telling their citizens to get out of India, just a few days after similar warnings over Pakistan.

“To a certain extent we have been taken hostage by the decision of the secretary general (Kofi Annan), probably under the influence of the United States and Great Britain,” a UN employee said.

“We were ordered to send our families home and I’m not sure this decision needed to be taken so urgently,” he said.

Fears of attacks on foreigners at least justified the pull-out from Pakistan.

There have been three high-profile attacks on Westerners this year alone: the abduction and murder of US journalist Daniel Pearl in January, the bombing of an Islamabad church in March which killed two Americans and the attack which killed 11 French nationals in Karachi last month.

But the reason given for leaving India, which is home to tens of thousands of Western expatriates, is the tense border situation with Pakistan and the risk of war breaking out between the two nuclear-armed powers.

Diplomats pointed to the fact that five or six countries made their announcements “in just a few hours on Friday evening. That cannot be a coincidence — it’s a concerted initiative”.

UN Secretary General Annan followed almost instantly, telling the families of its staff in both India and Pakistan — home also to the families of UN personnel in Afghanistan — to get out.

“It’s very hard on India,” said a diplomatic source, add-ing that travel warnings against the two countries would hit tourism-reliant India the hardest.

“The balance of pressure”, which had previously weighed on Pakistan alone, would cost India dear, sources said.

“(India) has become a pariah in recent days,” they said.

The analyst said it would be a victory for Pakistan if the global efforts to end the crisis with India ended in a referendum on Kashmiris right to self-determination.—AFP