 "Joe Biden")
US President Joe Biden is on his way to New Delhi to attend the 18th G20 Summit. Biden, who took off from Andrew's air base on Friday morning, will hold a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi just after landing on Friday evening.
After boarding the flight for India, Biden, on his social media account X, said, "I'm headed to the G20 - the premier forum for international economic cooperation - focused on making progress on Americans' priorities, delivering for developing nations, and showing our commitment to the G20 as a forum that can deliver."
Ahead of his visit and the G20 Summit, New Delhi has ramped up its security. Police, paramilitary forces and other agencies maintain a hawk-eye vigil in the city.
Three-layered security for Joe Biden
According to a report by India Today, a three-layer security has been arranged for Biden.
The outermost layer will have paramilitary force personnel, the second layer will have commandos from the Special Protection Group (SPG) and the innermost circle will have secret service agents.
Biden and other US delegates will stay on the 14th floor at the ITC Maurya Sheraton Hotel. The staff will undergo background checks, and special access cards will be given to those who will visit the floor.
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A special lift has also been installed to reach the floor, the report added.
'The Beast' to accompany Biden
The official car of the US President, "The Beast," will be flown to India with Biden. The Beast is a Cadillac and will be flown in a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III.
The car will be under the guard of the United States Secret Service.
Security beefed up in New Delhi
Markswomen and armed forces deployed at strategic locations, enhanced patrolling and intensive checking in border areas are some of the security measures taken by the Delhi Police ahead of the G20 summit.
Delhi Police is being assisted by over 50,000 security personnel, K9 dog squads and mounted police, according to news agency PTI.
The Delhi Police is also being assisted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) and specialised central agencies like the National Security Guard (NSG) and some of the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
Nineteen markswomen who have completed a four-week specialised training session conducted by the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) at its training centre in Karera, Madhya Pradesh, will also be deployed during the summit.
Armed with rifle scopes, they will be deployed at strategic locations in the city, including the G20 summit venue and hotels.
Flag marches, enhanced patrolling and picket checking, are being conducted to maintain law and order in the national capital.
"Picket checking has been increased in the area and communication is being established with locals to give them a sense of confidence. The areas near Yamuna Khadar are being checked regularly. Mounted morchas have also been pressed into service," a senior official was quoted by PTI as saying.
The security forces continue to remain on high alert to thwart any untoward incident. Police have intensified patrolling and deployed extra pickets at vital installations, the officials said, adding that citizens have been asked to inform the police if they notice any suspicious activity.
As far as the venue security arrangements are concerned, a special commissioner of police-rank officers will serve as the commander, with deputy commissioner of police-rank officials serving as zonal commanders, police said.
Joint commissioner-rank officers and additional DCPs will assist them.
DCP-rank officers will serve as camp commanders of hotels where the delegates will be staying. Special commissioner of police-rank officers will have groups of hotels under their command, they said.
Officials said arrangements have been made so that no infiltration, terrorist act or sabotage takes place during the summit.
"For specialised measures, we also have the Indian armed forces assisting us. The staff has been provided role-based micro-functional training and made aware of their duties. This has been done through carcade rehearsals and point-wise briefing," another officer said.
(With agency inputs)
