New Delhi, Sep 9 - There is no specific threat to the Commonwealth Games to be held here in 2010, but it is a massive security undertaking that India is prepared to handle, Home Secretary G.K. Pillai told the heads of missions of 71 countries here Wednesday.
Pillai briefed the heads of missions of countries participating in the games next year. This will be followed by a meeting with the security liaison officers of various countries Sep 23, when more technical details will be provided.
'There is no specific threat to Commonwealth game,' Pillai told reporters here.
The Commonwealth Games will be a massive undertaking, with the participation of 8,000 athletes from 71 countries. Another 100,000 visitors are expected to be in the city for the event in October 2010. Besides, there will be 30,000 volunteers guiding visitors to the games. The total city infrastructure investment has been estimated at $2 billion.
Pillai said the heads of missions were assured of the capacity of the Indian security establishment to provide all types of security.
'We have to keep them in confidence, so that their comfort level is good,' he said.
He noted that an event like England withdrawing from the World Badminton Championship due to a terror scare should not be allowed to occur again. He said intelligence agencies of various countries were in touch to give inputs on threat levels to the international event.
In October, the general assembly of the Commonwealth Games Federation will be held, which will be attended by Prince Edward and 245 other observers.
'We told them that we will be handling 60 million people from January to April for the Kumbh Mela. So handling about 100,000 visitors will not be difficult for us,' said Pillai.
The home ministry's top bureaucrat provided an outline of the arrangements, starting with the special chartered flights by Air India to countries with large contingents.