What is behind Saudi Arabia’s overture to India?

King Abdullah bin Aziz of Saudi Arabia, the country of the birth of Islam, was the chief guest at the India Republic Day on January 26. After an interval of 51 years, the King paid a four-day visit to India. Before his arrival to New Delhi, the King was in China. The visit to both the non-Muslim majority countries is highly significant.

The wide-ranging political and strategic implications of his participation as the chief guest on the Republic Day ceremony in New Delhi has not been lost in South Asia and outside.