Safe in Fortress Manhattan

PM Manmohan Singh is among the best protected in the city hosting leaders from about 150 of 192 countries in the UN General Assembly, reports Varghese K George.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is among the best protected in the city hosting leaders from about 150 of 192 countries in the UN General Assembly.

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Traffic stops for his 18-vehicle cavalcade, secured by US Secret Service, New York Police (NYPD) and India’s Special Protection Group (SPG).

US President George W. Bush, his counterparts from Pakistan (Asif Zardari) and Afghanistan (Hamid Karzai) are the other three heads of state given the top-level protection.

As Singh drove from the airport to the hotel, a helicopter with Secret Service and NYPD personnel maintained on-air vigil.

Part of the road in front of the New York Palace hotel in Manhattan, where Singh stays, is cordoned off. A few feet away on Park Avenue is Hotel Waldorf Astoria, where Bush and Karzai stayed.

Singh is on 51st floor of the 55-storey hotel. The entire floor is with the Indian contingent.