New Delhi ? Authorities sealed off the center of their normally frenetic capital Thursday with 15,000 police to protect the Olympic torch relay from anti-China protesters who held their pro-Tibet demonstrations elsewhere in India.

By the time the torchbearers had traversed the shortened New Delhi route of the round-the-world relay, protesters had come nowhere near the Olympic flame – and only a few hundred selected guests had managed to see it at all.

Security was among the tightest ever in central New Delhi, with rings of protection – first, Chinese in blue tracksuits; then, Indians in red ones – surrounding torchbearers as they jogged from the presidential palace to the India Gate monument, which commemorates India’s dead in World War I.

India has the world’s largest community of Tibetan exiles, many of whom see the torch relay ahead of this summer’s Beijing Olympics as an important stage to protest Chinese rule over Tibet. Thousands held a peaceful mock torch relay earlier Thursday elsewhere in New Delhi, and protests were also held in other Indian cities, including Mumbai, where 25 people who tried to storm the Chinese consulate were detained.

The torch arrived in Thailand today and was quickly taken to a hotel pending the relay. Up to 2,000 police will guard the route, which authorities say could be changed at the last minute to avoid disruption by protesters. News reports said about 30 pro-China supporters greeted the torch at the airport.