Uncanny sense of normality reigns in a never very eventful capital

PAKISTAN: While dread of a nuclear catastrophe in the sub-continent grips the West, most Pakistanis seem unfazed.

PAKISTAN: While dread of a nuclear catastrophe in the sub-continent grips the West, most Pakistanis seem unfazed.

Life continues with an uncanny sense of normality in the never very eventful capital, Islamabad.

I have asked many Pakistanis anxiously since the crisis in Kashmir began if they think there will be a war, but nearly all of them react the same way.

They smile and say reassuringly they do not think anything will happen. It is hard to find a single person who believes we are on the brink of a nuclear war.

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"Nobody wants war," said Jamil Qureshi, who owns a toy-shop in Islamabad. "They should sit and talk. But if India will attack, of course we will defend our country. I don't believe nuclear weapons will be used."

Part of the indifference is explained by the fact that small-scale hostilities across the Line of Control - the de-facto border between Indian and Pakistani-held Kashmir - occur almost each summer to coincide with the melting of the glaciers in the mountainous terrain.

Then there is ignorance. I often wonder whether some of the people I talk to really understand the destruction a nuclear bomb would wreak. Estimates of illiteracy levels in Pakistan vary from 50 to over 70 per cent.

When pressed, less-educated Pakistanis will boast that if Pakistan had to, it could teach India a lesson by unleashing a nuclear bomb. However, most echo President Musharraf's assurances that Pakistan does not want war and will not be the one to start it.

Even Kashmiris do not seem over-anxious. Muhammad Mousarrad, a cleaner, has just returned from visiting his village. He explained it is 50 kilometres from the Line of Control and is not affected by the cross-border shelling. There is shelling every year at this time, he says, and although the villagers are a bit more worried this year, nobody thinks there will be a full-scale war, let alone a nuclear conflict.

"Even if there is a war, Islamabad is completely safe," said Jamil Qureshi, who is more upset about the disappearance of many of the foreigners who used to frequent his shop.

If there is anything out of the ordinary in Islamabad these days it is the lack of foreigners. Almost all families and non-essential staff from Western embassies and organisations such as the UN have already been evacuated. However, at least in the case of the British High Commission, the decision to evacuate was due to terrorist threats rather than fear of war.

With Pakistani troops being moved away from the Afghan border to reinforce the army in Kashmir, Western diplomats fear members of al-Qaeda will enter Pakistan and target Westerners with greater ease.

Westerners here have been anticipating more violence directed at them since the attack on the Islamabad church in March that killed five, including the wife and daughter of a US diplomat, and horrified the closely-knit expatriate community.

Even though Western nationals were being evacuated from India as well as Pakistan by last weekend, most of the talk among Westerners in Islamabad has been about rumours of another major terrorist attack. Bombs and shootings inside Pakistan are something Pakistanis find even more routine than the talk of war.