For Delhi Police, G20 Cavalcades Were The Big Challenge

The task of managing cavalcades of world leaders was the toughest part of the job during the recently concluded G-20 meet, various officers of Delhi Police have agreed. What complicated it was that three world leaders -- including US President Joe Biden -- insisted on flying in their own hi-tech personal vehicles and having huge cavalcades.

During his visit to the national capital, Mr Biden travelled in "The Beast" -- the US Presidential Cadillac, that was flown to India from the US in a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III. Mr Biden had the longest cavalcade -- 50 cars.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also got their own fleets.

"Managing carcades of so many visiting heads of states was the most challenging work during G 20 summit," Madhup Tiwari, the Special Commissioner (Security) told NDTV.

As many as 28 country heads and 13 international organisational heads participated in the G20 meet and most of them were moving in bullet-proof cars in Delhi. Bullet proof cars were provided to VIPs after threat assessments.

To keep a track of so many VIP carcades, the Delhi Police had launched a carcade management system which was being managed via control room.

"We were tracking all cars on real time basis throughout the summit," a senior police officer said.

Each group had a designated time frame for movement.

Mr Biden's cavalcade was to reach the Mahamandapam in 14 minutes from Maurya Sheraton. United Kingdom Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's carcade was allowed seven minutes as he was staying in Shangri-La Hotel.

The Turkish President was staying in Oberoi while the Saudi Prince was in Hotel Leela.

"All drivers of VVIP cars were from CRPF and were very precise in their timings," an official explained.

All drivers allotted to VIP fleets were shortlisted from contingents which were either attached with the Special Protection Group or the National Security Guards  

"We had the best team. Even the women officers who were with spouses of visiting VIPs, were trained by the CISF (Central Indian Security Forces). All of them worked as a team and not as different components derived from various pools," he added.