New Delhi sources stated that Saudi Arabia’s powerful Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who was in India recently and is known to share good ties with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is rumored to be on a collision course with his father King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud. Meanwhile the development holds the prospect of derailing some of the reforms initiated by the ambitious Crown Prince, referred to as “MBS”.
Furthermore it is not known what has triggered the reported clash. Mohammed bin Salman has been under intense scrutiny since the killing on October 2 last year of Jamal Khashoggi, a plain spoken acolyte turned dissident of the MBS regime who worked for the Washington Post. Reportedly Khashoggi’s body was never found and the reclusive kingdom, out of which news of the rulers comes only in driblets, has been on a long damage limitation exercise. It is said that King Salman’s intervention in the matter has restored a semblance of order in the matter.
Moreover India would be watching the developments with interest and some unease. When the Saudi Crown Prince was in India in February, the joint statement said terrorism and extremism was a common threat to both the nations. Apparently it is believed that the invitation extended to India to address the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in Abu Dhabi recently showed the success of Modi’s diplomatic outreach in finding support within the Arab world for India’s battle against Pakistan based terror.
