NEW DELHI: Delhi is on high alert with tight security and temporary traffic curbs as India hosts top world leaders for the BRICS Summit at the Bharat Mandapam over the weekend.
With around 15,000 Delhi Police personnel, 200 companies of paramilitary forces and more than 500 CCTV cameras, the capital is under a thick blanket of security for the two-day 18th BRICS Summit starting Saturday. Arrangements have been put in place to ensure maximum security for the visiting dignitaries, officials said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reached Delhi for the summit early Friday, while China has confirmed President Xi Jinping’s attendance, marking his first trip to India after a seven-year gap. Other global leaders in attendance include Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Police have conducted extensive surveys of the identified routes and held coordination meetings with multiple agencies and neighbouring states, officials said. The security arrangements will cover the airport, hotels, Bharat Mandapam and other locations the dignitaries would visit.
In the New Delhi zone, more than 500 CCTV cameras, including high-resolution ones, facial recognition systems and vehicle number plate-reading cameras will provide round-the-clock surveillance through a monitoring room, the officials said. Enhanced access control, verification, intelligence gathering, traffic management and emergency response mechanisms have also been put in place at the summit venue and hotels where the foreign dignitaries would stay.
Officials said the scale of the summit would require multiple high-security movements each day. A visiting leader could travel between the airport, hotel, summit venue and bilateral meetings or other engagements, resulting in around 70-80 or more high-security movements across the city in a single day. Each movement requires separate traffic regulation, access restrictions and route coordination.
Tibetans protesting Xi’s visit detained
At least five Tibetan nationals were detained by Delhi Police near Pragati Maidan on Friday morning after they allegedly gathered to protest against Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the national capital for the BRICS Summit, police sources said.
Several purported videos also went viral on social media showing some of those detained from the Pragati Maidan tunnel allegedly climbing poles and trying to tear down posters put up for the Chinese delegation. The detainees were picked up from a tunnel near Pragati Maidan, where they had assembled in protest.
