NEW DELHI, 14 July — All necessary preparations were completed in New Delhi yesterday to welcome visiting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who along with his wife and a high-level delegation is expected to land here at 8:00 a.m. today.
Delhi Police assisted by central forces and sharp-shooters of National Security Guards (NSG), have made elaborate security arrangements for the high-profile guest. In addition to the paramilitary and the NSG, 56,000 strongmen of the Delhi Police will provide security to the visiting dignitary during his stay in the capital.
Special Commissioner (security and operation) R.S. Gupta yesterday told reporters that the steps have been taken keeping in view the threat to the visiting president from “certain organizations opposed to the Indo-Pak summit.
During his stay in Delhi, Musharraf will also visit “Naherwali Haveli,” where he was born. The area legislator Shoib Iqbal, in cooperation with the local people is hosting a Mushaira “Ek Shaam Indo-Pak Dosti Ke Naam,” in Musharraf’s honor in the evening.
In the Taj Mahal town of Agra yesterday, thousands of police, paramilitaries and “Black Cat” commandos held final drills against possible terrorist attacks during tomorrow’s summit.
Roadblocks were set up as far as 60 km from the city to search vehicles for firearms being smuggled into the town, which has a dubious reputation as one of the country’s most crime-prone regions. Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee will reach Agra tonight, while Musharraf will arrive a few hours later, tomorrow, for the first summit between the two nations since February 1999.
Ahead of schedule, the police sealed off the Amar Villas Hotel, where Musharraf will stay, and ordered residents of adjacent houses to report any unannounced guests to authorities.
The mammoth security operation also spilled into the Yamuna River where marine guards patrolled the waters with heavy weapons.
And the Black Cat commandos were out on the streets of Agra, familiarizing themselves with the route between the two hotels, which has already been cordoned off.
Agra police chief A.K.D. Diwedi said, “We have deployed around 6,000 policemen, and 20 companies (2,000 men) of Rapid Action Force troops have been brought in for the summit. Besides, various other agencies are now helping us,” he said.
Agra city administrator Kamlesh Kumar insisted the unprecedented security measures were tailored to cause the minimum inconvenience to Agra’s 400,000 residents, many of whom opted to leave the town ahead of the summit.
Hoteliers said business had shrunk and occupancy had dropped from 35 percent to 15 percent in the days running up to the summit. But the Taj Mahal which is sparkling, thanks to Musharraf, will remain closed to visitors today and reopen on Tuesday.
“I have been working here for more than a decade but have never seen the kind of extensive cleaning that has been currently undertaken in the Taj, said a government employee. Added Bhupal Singh, who owns a shop near the Taj:
“Such arrangements were not made even for US President Bill Clinton.” Authorities are leaving no stone unturned to letting Musharraf feel that they care for him.
Expert hands have been scrubbing every inch of the tall inner marble walls right up to the dome. The result is there for everyone to see.
“Not only the beautiful carvings, but the entire 450-year-old structure wears a new look,” exclaimed S.K. Ray from Calcutta who was visiting the Taj after a gap of five years.
Meanwhile, Home Minister L.K. Advani is preparing to soften up Musharraf with some tough talk on “terrorism” on the first day of his summit visit, reports said yesterday.
The home minister is to call on Musharraf at the presidential palace in Delhi shortly after the official welcoming ceremony today.
The Indian Express said officials were putting together data ahead of the talks “to buttress the case against heightened militancy and infiltration by Pakistan-sponsored militants” in Kashmir and other troubled regions of India.
“He (Advani) will raise the issue of cross-border terrorism and insurgency that has kept the state on edge,” the newspaper said in a report.
In another development, dozens of hard-line Hindu activists yesterday burned a straw-filled effigy they said represented Pakistan to protest Islamabad’s insistence on meeting Kashmiri separatists ahead of summit.
