Despite Foreign Secretary Jack Straw's call for all Britons in India and Pakistan to consider leaving, one Calcutta-based woman is staying put.

UK businesswoman Violet Smith is sceptical that the conflict over Kashmir will escalate into a full-scale war.

Ms Smith owns a hotel in Calcutta, has lived there 40 years and says she does not plan to leave.

There is no war so far, is there?

Violet Smith

She feels there is heightened sensitivity to the threat of war because of the terror attacks last year on 11 September.

"It's only that people have got frightened after 11 September, otherwise there is absolutely nothing here."

Her practical concerns about her business have so far outweighed her fears of war.

"We had notification from the High Commission to be very careful - to leave the country if there is any problem but there is no war so far, is there?"

She added: "I have a British passport but I have to stay here - my business is here."

Business as usual in Calcutta

Calcutta is thousands of miles away from Kashmir, and like many of the estimated 20,000 British residents on the huge Indian subcontinent, Ms Smith feels very far away from the violence.

"Calcutta is a very peaceful city."

Jack Straw told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that his warning to Britons was a precautionary measure and "not heralding an emergency evacuation".

He said it was "prudent" to issue the advice now, rather than wait for any possible escalation in a possible risk of war, which might leave UK nationals facing greater problems trying to leave India.