India’s Modi breaks protocol to welcome Saudi’s Crown Prince

Thursday, 21 February 2019 00:23 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi presents a bouquet to Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman upon his arrival at an airport in New Delhi, India, February 19, 2019. REUTERS

NEW DELHI (Reuters): Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi broke with Government protocol to personally welcome Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to New Delhi on Tuesday.

Ordinarily, the Prime Minister would not receive a foreign dignitary at the airport, but instead send an official or a junior Government minister. “A new chapter in bilateral relations,” Raveesh Kumar, Spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, posted on Twitter, hailing Modi “breaking protocol” with a photograph of the pair warmly clasping hands by the steps of the Prince’s plane.