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NEW DELHI, Jan 25 (AFP) - India began final security preparations Friday for its 53rd Republic Day celebrations, with a large portion of its army still stuck on the border in a tense military face-off with rival Pakistan.

The Indian capital, where the main celebrations are being held on Saturday, was turned into a virtual fortress with nearly 50,000 security troops on duty to prevent threatened attacks by militant groups.

Mukesh Kumar Meena, Deputy Commissioner of the Delhi Police, said helicopters would fly over the city while police sharpshooters would be posted atop key government buildings to prevent any attack on federal ministers.

"Over the years, the parade has become a security hazard with militants seeing it as an occasion to strike and grab newspaper headlines. This year we are on our toes," said Meena.

"Close monitoring has been mounted on the city's nine entry and exit points. Surprise checks are being carried out at hotels and guest houses in areas where militants could possibly take shelter," said Meena.

Similar precautions were taken across the country but were especially rigorous in militancy-ridden provinces such as the Himalayan state of Kashmir and India's northeast.

India's Republic Day is always a tense time in Kashmir as Muslim militants fighting Indian rule routinely attempt to disrupt the official celebrations by firing rockets and launching grenade attacks.

"We have intensified patrols and search operations ahead of Republic Day across Kashmir," said Rajinder Bhullar, Deputy Inspector General of India's Border Security Force.

Security forces have sealed off several localities around Bakshi Stadium in Srinagar and the Maulana Azad stadium in the state winter capital Jammu, the two main venues for Republic day celebrations in Kashmir.

They have conducted sweeping house-to-house searches in the past week and dozens of suspects have been pulled in, triggering protests of undue harassment from local residents.

Around a dozen militant groups in Kashmir observe the Republic Day as a "black day" and have warned the public against taking part in the official celebrations.

More than 35,000 people have died in Indian-administered Kashmir since the start of a Muslim separatist insurgency in 1989.

In the western city of Bombay, India's commercial hub and film capital, police tightened security around government offices and the homes of prominent politicians, including hardline Hindu leader Bal Thackeray, who is reported to be a militant target.

At least 50,000 army, police and paramilitary personnel were also deployed across five of India's seven insurgency-wracked northeast states.

Twelve separatist guerrilla groups have called for a boycott of Republic Day and a dawn-to-dusk shut-down against New Delhi's "colonial, repressive, and barbaric rule."

More than 45 civilians have been gunned down by militants in the last 10 days in Tripura and Assam states.

"Attempts are beng made by the militants to make their presence felt by striking at soft targets, mostly unarmed civilians," said Tripura state police chief B.L. Vohra.

In New Delhi, where the main celebrations on Saturday include a massive parade showcasing the country's military muscle and cultural diversity, roads leading to the venue -- a majestic avenue leading to a British-built memorial modelled on the Arc de Triomphe in Paris -- were sealed off.

"We have sanitised the entire eight-kilometre (five-mile) route that the parade will take," said a senior police official.

This year the parade will be cut short by three kilometres in an area considered a security risk.

The parade will also be 15 minutes shorter due to the absence of tanks, infantry combat vehicles and columns of marching soldiers all deployed on India's western border with Pakistan.

Since the December 13 attack on India's parliament, which New Delhi blames on Pakistan-based militant groups, there has been a huge military build-up along both sides of the Indo-Pakistan border with an estimated 800,000 troops. 

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