Agencies/New Delhi

Tight security was being put in place yesterday for the swearing in of Narendra Modi as India’s 14th prime minister, to be attended by leaders of neighbouring countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan.
At least 3,000 guests are expected at today’s ceremony in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, the presidential palace in the capital.
Guests include Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, politicians and a host of ministers.
Modi scripted history by getting his Bharatiya Janata Party a full majority in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of parliament, for the first time. After his meteoric rise from a party functionary to chief minister of Gujarat, where he ruled for 13 years, and then to prime minister-designate, Modi embarked on a foreign policy initiative that left even his bitter critics disarmed.
The heads of government of all South Asian Association of Regional Co-operation countries except Bangladesh are attending the event in a signal that the countries in the neighbourhood were keen to script a new chapter in bilateral relations with a Modi-led government. It is seen as an indication of Modi’s rising stock as a leader in India and outside.
Sharif on Saturday confirmed he will attend the oath-taking ceremony, a move that has created anticipation among people in both countries. Bilateral relationship has been bedevilled by what India views as Pakistan’s hesitation in taking action against the perpetrators of 26/11 Mumbai terror attack.
Modi, who got congratulatory messages from several world leaders, is apparently keen to hit the ground running in his foreign policy outreach by demonstrating his government’s keenness to improve relations with the neighbours and beyond.
Official sources said it was the first time Saarc leaders had been invited for the swearing-in of an Indian prime minister. Ambassadors and high commissioners of countries present in the capital are being invited, again in a first for an oath-taking.
Former presidents Pratibha Patil and A P J Abdul Kalam, outgoing prime minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, and Bollywood celebrities including Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Lata Mangeshkar are among those invited for the swearing in of Modi and his council of ministers. All MPs are also on the guest list, the sources said.
Police and soldiers were preparing a multi-layered security ring, police spokesman Rajan Bhagat said.  
The air force will also have an air-defence system in place, allowing no aircraft to fly over the area. Snipers were being positioned in high-rise buildings, CNN-IBN news channel reported.
All government offices located on streets leading to the palace were to be closed. The ceremony is scheduled for 6pm.
The only spoilsport, besides the hot summer weather, could be a squall and dust storm, or even sudden rain.
But Rashtrapati Bhavan officials are keeping their fingers crossed.
“We’re hoping the weather will hold,” said Omita Paul, secretary to President President Mukherjee.
It is the third time the swearing-in of a new prime minister is taking place in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the earlier occasions being the oath taking of former prime ministers Chandra Shekhar and Atal Behari Vajpayee.
l New Delhi’s much vaunted address 7 Race Course Road will get its newest occupant tonight when Modi shifts to his new official residence barely hours after taking oath.
Sources said Modi will move to the house after he attends a banquet hosted by Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan, located some 3km away.
The dinner will begin soon after the swearing-in ceremony concludes.
Outgoing prime minister Singh, who has been occupying 7 Race Course Road for the past decade as head of two successive governments, will move out earlier today. He will shift to his new residence, at 3 Motilal Nehru Place, today afternoon, the sources added.
According to the sources, 7 Race Course Road houses five bungalows spread over about 12 acres.