NEW DELHI — Scores of Tibetan protesters were arrested in New Delhi yesterday as the presence of thousands of paramilitary and police officers overshadowed celebrations during the Indian leg of the Olympic torch relay.

Small crowds of spectators were outnumbered by a 15,000-strong security contingent as officials in India — home to the Dalai Lama and about 100,000 Tibetan refugees — tried to avoid a repeat of the anti-China protests that marred the London and Paris legs of the relay.

The result was a lackluster event as about 70 sports stars and Bollywood celebrities half-heartedly participated in the relay, which was reduced to just 1.5 miles and lasted barely half an hour. Police had been issued with water and blankets after activists threatened to set themselves alight, but the overwhelming security deployment meant the pockets of dissenters were isolated and outnumbered.

Torch bearers were closely monitored by China’s blue-track-suited security guards as they were each allowed to run a short distance down the Raj Path to India Gate, the World War I memorial and the city’s best known monument. “I am sympathetic to what is happening in Tibet, but at the same time I am here as a supporter of the Olympics,” a Bollywood star, Saif Ali Khan, said before the relay.