India gives in: Officials agree to US demand of no-fly zone around Rajpath for Obama's visit

New Delhi will be a sealed fortress on 26 January with Indian authorities giving in to US demands, which they had earlier rejected, for US President Barack Obama’s three day visit to India. Apart from the unprecedented ground-to-air security drill during his visit on Republic Day, American authorities had earlier demanded a no-fly zone around Rajpath. After rejecting the demand earlier, Indian authorities gave in on Tuesday. Media reports said that a no-fly zone will be imposed around Rajpath on 26 January. Earlier, US authorities had demanded a 5-km-radius no-fly zone imposed around Rajpath which would have led to the traditional fly past being cancelled which the Indian military authorities shot down saying that it lasts only for around 10 minutes. Even on Wednesday as Indian officials agreed to a no fly-zone, they made sure the fly past was not cancelled. [caption id=“attachment_2057671” align=“alignleft” width=“380” class=" “]  US President Barack Obama. PTI[/caption] The fly past will showcase Indian Air Force aircraft, including its recent acquisitions from the US like the C-17 Globemaster-III and Poseidon-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft. The area around Rajpath is traditionally a no-fly zone for commercial aircraft. Apart from this, 70 buildings around Rajpath will be identified and sanitised before Obama’s visit, the report added. An earlier _Firstpost_ article had noted how India was literally bracing up for the US President’s three-day visit. Apart from Rajpath, officials had decided to close Taj Mahal for the public. Air Force One, the state-of-the-art plane with some of the most sophisticated technology that carries the US President, will be given the same protocol in Indian air space that is reserved for the President of India and the Prime Minister, according to NDTV. This means that until Air Force One lands down, all other planes will have to wait to land. “We will ensure that the plane lands safely and without any kind of problems. It does not require any airspace closure. When the US President is departing, that’s when we may have to hold other air traffic,” NDTV quoted a senior official in the Civil Aviation ministry as saying. Earlier today, PTI quoted sources and said in a report that a seven-layer security ring will be thrown around the VVIP enclosure on Rajpath for the Republic Day parade, where Obama will be chief guest, and the airspace over the area would be monitored by a radar to be specially set up.