Executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad Jiang Xiaoyu (L) and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi hold the Olympic flame at the New Delhi airport on Thursday, April 17, 2008.

The Olympic torch touched down on Indian soil in the wee hours of Thursday morning for the eleventh leg of its global tour, China News Service reported.

The torch arrived in New Delhi shortly after midnight, local time, on a special flight from Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Olympic flame and its delegation were welcomed by a cheering crowd that included Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President Suresh Kalmadi and Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan.

The flame delegation is headed by Jiang Xiaoyu, executive vice president of the Beijing Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games, who carried the flame lantern.

The Olympic torch relay, in New Delhi for the first time, will be rolled out on the three-kilometer Raji Path between the Indian Gate and the Indian Presidential Palace in the heart of the capital at 4 p.m. .

The report said IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan will run as the first and second torch bearers. There are 70 torch bearers in the relay, including several famous Indian sports and entertainment stars.

Following the stop in New Delhi, the Olympic torch relay will go to Bangkok, Thailand on Friday.

The 2008 Olympic flame was ignited on March 24 in ancient Olympia, Greece and was handed over to Beijing on March 31 after a six-day relay in Greece.

The 130-day torch relay will cover 137,000 kilometers before the flame returns to Beijing and enters the National Stadium on August 8 for the opening ceremony of the Olympics.

A total of 21,880 torchbearers will participate in the unprecedented relay, which is themed "Journey of Harmony."

Overseas Chinese welcome the Olympic torch at the New Delhi airport on Thursday, April 17, 2008. 

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