NEW DELHI/ INDIA: Nearly 1,600 American security personnel are expected in India for the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama for the Republic Day. Security is being beefed up taking into account even the remotest possibilities of terror threats.
Obamas arrival has pushed the Indian security establishment to pull all stops and throw an unprecedented security blanket in the capital along side their American counterparts.
U.S. security delegations have been making trips to India for the past few weeks, since the time Obama’s visit was confirmed on Twitter in November.
An advance American delegation that was in India to prepare for the President’s visit has told the Indian intelligentsia that almost 1,600 personnel would be involved in Obama’s visit.
Most of the 1,600 would be security and intelligence personnel from agencies such as the US secret service and CIA.
A second advance security liaison team of US officials comprising of CIA, FBI, and NSA that arrived in Delhi on Friday is slated to have marathon meetings with Indian Security Agencies to prepare arrangements in minutest possible details to provide fool-proof security cover during President Obama’s stay in India.
Obama will spend almost two hours in the open at the Republic Day parade along Rajpath a ceremonial boulevard that connects the Presidential Palace with the war memorial India Gate on January 26 with the Indian President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
An advance security team of the US that visited Rajpath had expressed serious concerns about the vulnerability of the arena. However, the Indian side assured them that its years of practiced drill is foolproof, and that they have also started installing several CCTV cameras along the stretch.
Further tightening the security for the parade, the government is also expected to reduce the number of passes issued to public.
Drawing from the experience of President Obama’s last India visit in 2010, the authorities have picked up all stray dogs in from areas that will be visited by the US president this time.
Threat perception this time looms from spectacular Lone Wolf and suicide attacks by ISIS and al Qaeda affiliates in areas close to places in Obama’s itinerary to attacks by Pakistan based terror groups and their Indian affiliates like Indian Mujahideen (IM) in public places having large number of footfalls, schools, railways, malls and markets in main metros and major towns.
The Times of India quoted sources that the US security teams were in talks with the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) and wanted a 5-km no-fly zone around Obama when he will sit at Rajpath watching the Republic Day parade. It is learnt that military officials in the capital have turned down U. S. requests to impose a 5-km “no-fly zone.
A no-fly zone would have led to the customary flypast on January 26 to be cancelled.
Also, the US officials have suggested that eateries and hotels along the route that Obama would take from the Agra hotel to Taj Mahal be closed during the period of his visit.
Obama starts his three-day official visit to India on January 25 upon the invitation of Prime Minister Modi.
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