Saudi Crown Prince receives ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan
New Delhi, Feb 20 (IBNS): Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman on Wednesday received a ceremonial welcome at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in presence of President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Breaking protocol, Modi himself received the Saudi Prince at the airport on Tuesday.
Salman came to India at a time India is having a bilateral tension with Pakistan, where the Saudi Prince had visited following the Pulwama attack, which left over 40 paramilitary personnel martyred, days ago.
Pakistan-based militant organisation, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), claimed responsibility for the attack.
In addition to the hardcore diplomatic issues including terror which would figure prominently at the talks between Indian and Saudi sides on Wednesday, issues of Haj quota and imprisonment of Indians in Saudi Arabia will also figure prominently.
According to official sources here on the issue of demand for enhanced quota for Haj, the government of India has given some documents to the Saudi side to deliberate and decide.
A royal welcome!
— Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) February 20, 2019
HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, inspected the Guard of honour, at the ceremonial reception @rashtrapatibhavn in the presence of #PresidentKovind and PM @narendramodi pic.twitter.com/ijrf7Dgrlu
"....As you know, on this there is a process where they will look into certain indicators and documents and then decide whether quota can be increased. And we have presented certain documents to them and we will have to wait for the outcome. This is something which will be raised at the talks," the source said.
As of now, India has a quota of 1.75 lakh Haj pilgrims from India but lately about three lakh people have applied and hence India is trying to enhance the quota.
Breaking protocol, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday evening received the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud as the latter arrived on his two-day crucial and maiden state visit to India.
Image credit: Raveesh Kumar Twitter
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