NEW DELHI (AP) – The Saudi crown prince, once vilified by President Joe Biden, rose from a fist punch to a heartfelt handshake.
Biden gave a warm welcome to Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader Mohammed bin Salman after they appeared alongside several other leaders at the Group of 20 summit in New Delhi on Saturday. The leaders had gathered to announce an ambitious plan to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe.
Biden smiled and shook hands with the crown prince, often referred to by his initials MBS, as the announcement came to a close. This year’s G20 host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, quickly placed his own hand over their hands.
The warm welcome was a sharp contrast to the last meeting between Biden and the crown prince in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, just over a year ago. During that encounter, Biden awkwardly greeted the crown prince with a fist bump, a moment that drew sharp criticism from human rights activists who were already angered by Biden’s decision to meet with the Saudi leader.
Bin Salman has been harshly criticized for his human rights violations. US intelligence officials noted that the prince authorized the 2018 assassination of US-based writer Jamal Khashoggi, who was a harsh critic of the kingdom’s ruling family.
Fred Ryan, who was editor of the Washington Post at the time of last year’s meeting between Biden and Prince Mohammed, said the punch “projected a level of intimacy and comfort that affords MBS the unjustified redemption he has been desperately seeking.” Khashoggi was a newspaper employee.
Biden refused to speak to Prince Mohammed early in his term. As a presidential candidate in 2020, Biden said he wants to make the Saudis “pay the price and actually make them the pariahs that they are.”
But concerns about human rights were eventually eclipsed by other factors, including Iran’s nuclear ambitions, the volatile oil market following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Biden administration’s recognition that the crown prince is likely to be a key voice of one of the key representatives of the Middle East will be important countries for the coming years.