Security tight at Indian beach resort for BRICS summit

An Indian para military force soldier and a National Security guard commando guard the main venue of BRICS summit in Goa, India, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016. The leaders of five big developing nations that banded together in 2009 as the so-called BRICS nations, are set to attend their annual summit Oct. 15-16, 2016 in a beach resort town in the western Indian state of Goa. But with their own economies now flagging, some analysts are questioning whether the group, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, still has clout in representing nearly half the world's population and a quarter of its economy at $16.6 trillion. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup) (The Associated Press)

An Indian policeman from bomb squad checks a round about with a huge BRICS logo, in Goa, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016. The leaders of five big developing nations that banded together in 2009 as the so-called BRICS nations, are set to attend their annual summit Oct. 15-16, 2016 in a beach resort town in the western Indian state of Goa. But with their own economies now flagging, some analysts are questioning whether the group, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, still has clout in representing nearly half the world's population and a quarter of its economy at $16.6 trillion. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath) (The Associated Press)

Indian tourists take selfie at the seventeenth-century Portuguese Fort Aguada and its lighthouse, in Goa, Friday, Oct. 14, 2016. The leaders of five big developing nations that banded together in 2009 as the so-called BRICS nations, are set to attend their annual summit Oct. 15-16, 2016 in a beach resort town in the western Indian state of Goa. But with their own economies now flagging, some analysts are questioning whether the group, consisting of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, still has clout in representing nearly half the world's population and a quarter of its economy at $16.6 trillion. (AP Photo/Anupam Nath) (The Associated Press)

India's beach resort state of Goa has been turned into a high security zone with thousands of paramilitary troops, coast guards and police guarding venues where the leaders of five emerging market economies are meeting over the weekend.

Sniffer dogs and troops with mine-detectors combed the white sandy beaches next to the five-star hotel in Benaulim village, where the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are meeting for their eighth summit Saturday.

The sprawling hotel lawns are closed to the public, with plainclothes security officials and uniformed police forming several layers of security.

Goa police also shut sections of the main road and tourists visiting the popular holiday resort had to take long detours to reach the few beaches that are open to the public this weekend.