Saudi crown prince Mohammed did not fly directly to India from Pakistan; here's why

Salman who arrived in Islamabad on Sunday at the start of his tour of South Asia, flew back to his country Saudi Arabia on Monday night after his trip got over, even though his tour to India was scheduled for the very next day.

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman on his arrival, at Palam AFS in New Delhi, Tuesday, Feb 19, 2019. (PTI Photo) (PTI2_19_2019_000198B)

New Delhi: Saudi crown prince Mohammed-bin-Salman, who arrived in India on Tuesday night, after his two-day Pakistan trip, did not fly directly to New Delhi from Islamabad. Salman who arrived in Islamabad on Sunday at the start of his tour of South Asia, flew back to his country Saudi Arabia on Monday night after his trip got over, even though his tour to India was scheduled for the very next day.  The reason cited behind this is India’s “objection” to his direct flight from Pakistan, in the wake of deadly terror strikes in Kashmir’s Pulwama by Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad. The Crown Prince has returned to Saudi Arabia on Monday, PTI said, quoting official sources. New Delhi had reservations over his coming to India from Pakistan. India is likely to strongly raise the issue of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism with Salman even as the two countries will look at further enhancing defence ties, including having a joint naval exercise, during his two-day visit here beginning Tuesday. Ahead of the visit by the Crown Prince, Saudi Arabia's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said in Islamabad on Monday that Riyadh will try to "de-escalate" tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of the deadly terror attack in Pulwama. As per PTI, official sources said Saudi Arabia was no longer accepting Pakistan's narrative on Kashmir and cross border terrorism and that India will forcefully raise the issue of Pakistan's support to terror groups during delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Crown Prince on Wednesday. They said the joint statement to be issued after talks between the two sides is likely to have strong reference about terrorism and ways to deal with it. They said that Saudi Arabia has been providing India information and intelligence about various terror networks. The two countries had inked a pact on exchange of intelligence related to money laundering and terrorism during Modi's visit to Riyadh in 2016. (with inputs from PTI)