Republic Day 2018: Ground-to-air security cover in Delhi, NSG commandos, anti-aircraft guns in place

All marketplaces have been put on alert in Delhi.

New Delhi: The national capital has been brought under a ground-to-air security cover in view of the Republic Day celebrations.

Thousands of armed personnel have been keeping a tight vigil for Republic Day in Delhi and in border areas of the city to ensure a smooth passage of the celebrations on Friday.

Additional security personnel will be deployed on high- rises with anti-aircraft guns, an official was quoted as saying by PTI.

CCTV cameras have been installed and control rooms have been set up to monitor the feed from the cameras. Police officials were maintaining a tight vigil at strategic points.

All marketplaces have been put on alert and Delhi Police teams were carrying out security audits. The police have deployed dog squads in key market areas.

The entire central and New Delhi region will have nearly 50,000 security personnel drawn from the Delhi Police and the central security forces. Several security layers have been put in place and Delhi Police personnel along with paramilitary and NSG commandos have been deployed.

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The visiting ASEAN leaders, after attending an ASEAN summit on Thursday, will be the chief guests at the Republic Day parade on Friday.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a multilateral body, comprising Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam. 

Meanwhile, President Ram Nath Kovind on Thursday received the ASEAN heads of state and government at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and hosted a lunch in their honour.

The ten ASEAN heads of state and government who visited the Rashtrapati Bhavan included Brunei's Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, Indonesian President Joko Widodo, Philippines President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, Thailand's Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Myanmar's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Lao PDR's Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith also attended the lunch.

(With PTI inputs)