US president Barack Obama’s security team will take over New Delhi’s ITC Maurya Sheraton hotel from November 2 and seal the place till the president’s departure.
US president Barack Obama’s security team will take over New Delhi’s ITC Maurya Sheraton hotel from November 2 and seal the place till the president’s departure. The president will check into the hotel on November 7.
With just two weeks to go before the US president’s arrival in India, the US army has already inspected Maurya Sheraton thrice for its proximity to the main road, safety, food and other aspects.
The main residential area, food and travel routes of the president will be the responsibility of the security team from the US. Delhi Police would be in charge of looking after the area outside the hotel.
Delhi’s Maurya Sheraton had earlier hosted US presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush during their visits in 2000 and 2006. The hotel has catered to leading lights from the Republican Party and the Democrat Party. Former secretary of state Condoleeza Rice has also stayed at the Maurya.
All the 440 rooms in the hotel have been booked for president Obama and his entourage. Some of these rooms will be converted for hosting summits and conferences, the rest will be as residential rooms and for other purposes. The president has expressed his desire for an Indian meal at Bukhara, the famous Indian restaurant at the hotel, which already has dishes named after the Clinton family. Indian chefs will prepare the president’s meal at the hotel.
“The action team from the US had taken 50 rooms each in Maurya and the Taj Palace to inspect the hotels in and out. The Taj had also put itself in the fray to host president Obama, but Maurya won.
The latter has a ready-made summit room in the grand presidential suite, which was designed for former US president George Bush, and has been there ever since,” a source said.
However, there’s been a lot of solidarity with the Taj Group after the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and president Obama will be staying at the Taj when he’s in Mumbai. Secretary of state Hillary Clinton too had stayed at the Taj during her India visit last year.
The advance teams looking after the president’s security have given the thumbs-up to Maurya for its safe and secure location, its green quotient and its proximity to the US embassy in Delhi. It is expected that US security would get its own sniffer-dog squad to Delhi.
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