Ahead of BRICS, Delhi’s anti-terror response gets a live rehearsal
The elite National Security Guard in India has brought its anti-terror measures into the open. On Tuesday, as part of Operation BRICS Kavach, almost 100 commandos carried out a series of simulated drills at four locations in the national Capital -- Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Rajghat, Bharat Mandapam and the Army Polo Ground -- as New Delhi tightens security around the 18th BRICS Summit this weekend.
The exercises ran from 11.30 am to 2 pm, about four hours, and each was timed so each location could be treated as a live situation, not merely a demonstration. At JLN Stadium and Rajghat, the commandos exited the hovering helicopters, descended via ropes, and took control of the ground within seconds. At Bharat Mandapam, the real summit venue at Pragati Maidan, the other teams carried out drills involving room clearance, casualty extraction and crisis command.
At the Army Polo Ground, they carried out the same sequence of attack-and-rescue drills. After the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai, the Delhi Police SWAT units also conducted their operations there. Officials said the aim was not to put on a show, but to activate the integrated terrorism crisis system while foreign leaders were in the city.
The current method has the Delhi Police and other agencies take the first position, with the NSG last. The exercises simulated hostage situations, armed intrusions and rapid insertion; these are the three tasks for which the force was established. The most noticeable moment of the day was a helicopter making a high-risk descent, a technique used when roads are blocked or a building must be attacked from above; similar manoeuvres are planned this week.
Someone familiar with the operation said a separate playbook would be prepared for each scenario so that, if anything goes wrong during the summit, there would be no need to improvise. Bharat Mandapam is where the leaders will sit, and Rajghat and JLN Stadium sit on the ceremonial and movement grid of central Delhi.
The Polo Ground provides open space for air-land exercises, and together they cover the venue, the memorial, the stadium, and the insertion zone. The political calendar determines the pace.
India will host the two-day leaders’ summit on 12 and 13 September at Bharat Mandapam. Prime Minister Narendra Modi leads the group in a year that also marks 20 years of BRICS.
The official theme is Humanity First, focusing on building resilience, innovation, cooperation and sustainability. Leaders from member and partner countries, as well as those invited to the event, are expected to reach the Capital this week. Although India has held the chairmanship since 1 January, authorities say more than 350 meetings have already taken place in over 25 cities, covering three standard areas: political and security issues, economic and financial matters, and people-to-people links.
India has now had four opportunities to hold the position, following 2012, 2016 and 2021. For this reason, security preparations are being treated as operational rather than ceremonial. Since the BRICS schedule has been expanded, there will be more motorcades, more hotels, more roads closed, and more buildings suddenly considered high value. The traffic police have already started planning routes for the convoy rehearsals.
The NSG’s drills take place on civilian infrastructure; this way, if a meeting place or route is affected, the last responders will already be on the ground. The force is not saying the city is sealed, but rather that the crisis procedure has been carried out in full view of the public, with the involvement of other agencies.
