The final route is still to be announced, but the Indian media have reported the torch will travel less than a third of the original 9 km distance in one of New Delhi's most heavily guarded neighbourhoods on Thursday.

'The route has been curtailed...We are meeting now to decide all the plans for the relay,' Randhir Singh, Secretary-General of the Indian Olympic Association, told reporters.

The Dalai Lama, the Tibetan spiritual leader, and the Tibetan government-in-exile are based in northern India and the country has had dozens of anti-China protests since last month's deadly riots in Tibet and surrounding regions.

In one protest, Tibetan exiles scaled the walls of the Chinese embassy in New Delhi last month.

China reacted strongly, summoning the Indian envoy to Beijing to express its displeasure and urge New Delhi to ensure adequate security for the Olympic torch, which has been a magnet for protests across the world.

Tibetan leaders in India said they were preparing to protest in spite of the heavy security.

'We know about the security, but we must protest against what China is doing in Tibet,' Tenzing Norsang, a Tibetan leader said.

'Our protest against the Olympic torch will continue and we will march holding our own torch demanding Tibet's independence.'

Indian officials called a meeting to review security of the torch after China's foreign minister called his Indian counterpart this month seeking assurances.

Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia has refused to carry the Olympic torch in protest against China's response to the unrest in Tibet.

Japanese city cancels Olympic torch special event over security fears
A Japanese city hosting the Olympic torch relay later this month said on Tuesday it will cancel a special post-relay event because of security concerns following disruptions hounding the flame elsewhere.

But the torch relay will take place as planned on April 26 in Nagano, city official Koichi Yajima said. The central Japan city was the venue of the 1998 Winter Games.

The city decided late Monday to call off the event, which was to feature Japanese 'taiko' drummers and show a videotape of the relay, Mr Yajima said.

'It is too bad the event was cancelled,' he said. 'But there are disruptions during the torch relay overseas so we made the right decision.'

Nagano originally did not plan to send any security guards to the special event, but came to realise it may need them after seeing the chaos in other countries, he said.

However, the city does not have enough of them, 'so we decided to just focus on hosting a successful relay', Mr Yajima said.

The torch relay, which began March 24 in Greece, has been a magnet for critics of China's policies in Tibet and Darfur.

Protesters disrupted stops in London, Paris and San Francisco, helping make the games among the most contentious in years.

The torch is to arrive in Japan from Australia and then travel to Seoul, South Korea. -- AP, REUTERS