Kiwis told not to rely on Indian govt's security assurances

New Zealand has been instructed not to rely on Indian government's assurances of a foolproof security cover during the Commonwealth Games in October this year and have been encouraged to take independent advice.

New Zealand Cricket Players' Association chief Heath Mills said nobody with a stake in the Games should be relied upon to give unbiased information. The suggestion comes after a the Pune blasts which has left 14 people dead and the target of the attack appeared to be foreigners.

India has already launched an urgent review of security for sports events, including this week's hockey World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) that begins from March 12. ''It's massively important to seek independent advice on issues of security. I can't emphasise that point enough,'' Mills said.

''Any analysis or supposed guarantees you get from the organisers of any event is clearly going to be conflicted. ''They are entirely motivated to make sure the event goes ahead for political reasons as well as having a commercial interest in it. ''When it comes to our Black Caps going overseas, we feel it's vitally important to have independent people who can go in there and review the security management plans that event organisers put in place,'' Mills told 'The Sunday News'. However, New Zealand Olympic Committee president Mike Stanley last night said he was confident his organisation would get ''the best information available'' from both the New Zealand Government and Commonwealth Games Federation. ''The Commonwealth Games Federation has its own international security consultants who assess the Indian event organisers' arrangements and advise them on things,'' Stanley said.

''We get information from both the CGF and the government and have a high degree of confidence we are going to get good information.'' But Mills said talking to the New Zealand government and CGF would not be enough for him. ''You get as much information out of the various government agencies that you can. ''They have good people involved but in our experience they will only provide information as opposed to advising you what to do. ''At the end of the day, they are not responsible for the athletes and nor should they be. The duty of care lies with the national sports body,'' Mills added.