NEW DELHI, Dec 2: India will host the 2010 Commonwealth Games and cricket’s World Cup in 2011 as scheduled despite security concerns after the Mumbai terror attacks, top officials said on Tuesday.

Indian Olympic Association Secretary-General Randhir Singh said there was no threat to the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi from Oct 3 to 14, 2010.

“What happened in Mumbai is tragic, but sport must go on and we are determined to host the Games,” Singh, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said.

“There will be high security for the Games as is common at most international sporting events. There is no cause to worry.

“The Olympic torch relay in New Delhi earlier this year went off without a problem despite demonstrations because the security was very tight.”

The 2010 event is only the second time the four-yearly Games have been awarded to an Asian city, the first being the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur in 1998.

The cricket World Cup in 2011, to be jointly hosted by the four South Asian Test nations, was thrown in doubt after diplomatic tensions escalated between India and Pakistan over the Mumbai attacks which left almost 200 people dead.

But India’s Sharad Pawar, a federal minister who takes over as president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2010, dismissed speculation the tournament was under threat.

“There is still some time for that and I am confident our government will take corrective actions,” Pawar told the CNN-IBN news channel.

“In the near future, you will see a totally different situation where all precautionary measures are taken and nobody will dare to show this kind of courage here.”

Indian cricket authorities are awaiting security clearance from the government for a Test tour of Pakistan in January, but media reports say the series is unlikely to take place.

India and Pakistan jointly hosted the World Cup in 1987 and 1996 with Sri Lanka, who organised three matches in 1996, and Bangladesh added as hosts for the 2011 tournament.—AFP