PM gets a taste of traffic blockade

By Joydeep Gupta, Copenhagen, Dec 18 : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday got a taste of what the average New Delhi resident has to go through every so often - his cavalcade was stuck in traffic as the Danish police cordoned off the route taken by US President Barack Obama, according to one of the officials travelling with the prime minister.

Manmohan Singh was not the only head of state or government to get stuck for Obama's security. Since they were all travelling from the centre of Copenhagen to Bella Centre - the venue of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change summit - many world leaders had to wait amid swirling snow flurries till the US president had passed by.

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While the heads of state and other officials waited in their warm cars, the average commuter to Copenhagen was left out in the cold. Many people working here live across the Baltic in Malmo or Lund - towns in southern Sweden.

Those who drive their cars over the bridge connecting the two countries had a tough time as the bridge was closed for Obama's security. They joined those in already overcrowded trains, which were running slow, partly due to the snow and partly by orders of the security personnel, who hovered overhead in helicopters.

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How often do you see a minister sitting in a cafe where anyone can go and having a burger for lunch? The climate summit was the place to see it, and India's Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh was the one munching salad with a vegetable burger at Bella Centre's main hall while the Indian media mobbed him as usual and he gave sound bytes to TV reporters.