New Delhi, July 17: Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, will be provided with presidential-level security during her two-day visit to the Capital, highly placed sources in the Delhi Police have said.
The Taj Palace Hotel on SP Marg will be turned into a fortress; an advanced team looking into Clinton’s personal security has already arrived from the US and has started checking the hotel and security situation.
The Secretary of State is arriving in Mumbai on Friday and will be reaching New Delhi on the afternoon of July 19 in a special US Air Force aircraft.
Sources said more than 1,500 security personnel will be deployed at the Taj Palace Hotel, along the routes Clinton will travel and the venues she will be visiting to attend programmes.
She is supposed to attend a Delhi climate change event at the ITC Green Building in Gurgaon, an agriculture event at the Pusa Institute in Central Delhi, and visit Delhi University on Monday, besides political appointments. She will reportedly leave for Thailand on July 21.
Apart from a Delhi Police security unit, police personnel will be placed at strategic locations, the traffic police will clear her routes, and National Security Guard commandos will be stationed at the hotel and important buildings along her route.
As part of the presidential security cover, Clinton will also be reportedly escorted by six vehicles, apart from her personal security officials and an ambulance. Her personal security officials will check the entire area before her visit.
The floor of the Taj Palace Hotel, where presidential suites are located, will be vacated and dog squads and bomb disposal squads will be checking the hotel from Friday. Anti-sabotage teams have already begun their work in the New Delhi area and the hotel.
The advanced team of US commandos and Clinton’s personal security officials will take over the hotel from Saturday and several security gadgets, especially brought from the US, will be used to secure it.
A senior security official said: “She will be provided with standard security which a diplomat should get as per norms. I cannot give you the details but everything will be well monitored and done with sophistication.”
Intelligence Bureau officials will be working in close coordination with the Special Branch and the Special Cell of the Delhi Police to gather information on any criminal activity or terrorist movements during her visit, sources said.
Hillary Clinton was provided with presidential-level security in 2000 as well, when she had visited India with her husband and then US President Bill Clinton. At the time, the Clintons had stayed at the Maurya Sheraton Hotel.
–Agencies