Thaindian News

New Delhi, July 19 (IANS) Before beginning her meeting with top Indian officials on the last leg of her India visit Monday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will address a select gathering of students and professors at Delhi University in the morning amidst tight security.
Clinton will give a lecture at the Convention Hall in the Old Vice Regal Lodge in Delhi University in north Delhi in the morning. The seating capacity of the Convention Hall is around 700 and invites have been sent to some students to attend the lecture.

Security agencies, including Delhi Police, and intelligence officials tightened the security in Delhi University Sunday with commandos of the elite National Security Guard (NSG), dog squads and anti-sabotage teams scouring every bit of the area ahead of the visit by the top US official.

“The whole auditorium and the places nearby have been sanitised and tight security is being maintained. Everything is being done in close co-ordination with the US security officials,” a security official said on condition of anonymity.

“The US security officials had arrived in Delhi more than a week ago. Clinton has been given the highest-category security. She is travelling in a bullet-proof vehicle piloted and escorted by security officials,” the official added.

Clinton arrived in the capital Sunday afternoon. She visited the ITC Greens building in the satellite town of Gurgaon for a programme on climate change and later the National Agricultural Science Centre (NASC) on Pusa Road.

After her Delhi University visit, Clinton is to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party leader L.K. Advani, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna among other leaders.

The security officials at the Taj Palace Hotel, where she is staying, have screened the hotel officials as well as the guest list.

“Security agencies have screened the hotel officials who are directly or indirectly involved in serving her,” the official further said.

US intelligence officials have taken over the entire floor where Clinton’s room is located. The location of her room has been kept secret.

“The hotel area has been sanitised and the floors above and below her room have been vacated,” the official said.

The NSG commandos have also been deployed at several locations.

The details of the security preparations have been kept confidential and even Clinton’s menu at the Taj Hotel is a secret.

Clinton last visited the Indian capital in 2000 when she accompanied her husband, then president Bill Clinton, and they stayed at the Maurya Sheraton Hotel.

–Indo-asian News Service

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