Security in Delhi is at an all-time high ahead of the Opening Ceremony, which takes place here tonight at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

The event will begin following weeks of uncertainty about whether it would run at all with incidents including high profile athlete boycotts, filthy conditions in the Athletes’ Village, health and security fears sparked by gun-fire on a tourist destination, a bridge collapse outside the main stadium and deadly mosquitoes.

But, despite the negative coverage of the Games, the controversial Kalmadi has claimed that the event will be a success and still be able to provide a legacy of bringing the Olympics and Paralympics to India.

He said: "The biggest legacy of Commonwealth Games is the Olympics.

"Cricket is the most popular sport in India, but it is played by just ten countries.

"Olympics has all sports. We have to ensure that Olympics come up.

"This is our opportunity and Commonwealth Games will help."

However, Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary general Randhir Singh - who Kalmadi has a difficult relationship with - has claimed India must first concentrate on conducting a successful Commonwealth Games before thinking about hosting the Olympics.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge will be the special guest at the Opening Ceremony and Singh feels it is up to the Belgian to best judge whether India is ready for Olympics or not.

Singh, who is also the secretary general of the Olympic Council of Asia and a member of the IOC, said: "We don’t think India should think about holding Olympics right now, we should concentrate on properly organising the Commonwealth Games.

"Let him [Rogge] come and see.

"If he feels that India is ready to hold Olympics then it’s better."

Rogge (pictured with Kalmadi and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh) had last week been guarded on commenting on an India bid for the 2020 Games saying that the Commonwealth Games must first take place before any post-mortem can begin.

The IOC President provided a boost to the country though by saying that the event cannot be simply written off because of the problems it has faced before it has even begun.

Rogge said: "I think I can hardly make a judgment before the Games have even started.

"Let’s give them the chance to prove they can stage good Games.

"It would be with a last-ditch effort and it probably would be costly, but let’s hope they can fulfil that.

"Hopefully the Indians can pull out a last-ditch effort like the Greeks have done [in Athens in 2004].

"We had doomsday scenarios in Athens and these were absolutely very good Games.

"The Greeks were able to pull out a very good effort.

"They were very, very good games at the last moment, so this could happen in Delhi."

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