Raja Mandala: Saudi Arabia and the ghosts of 1979

Events that year had a deep impact on the Subcontinent. Delhi must cheer on Saudi crown prince’s effort to take on religious extremists.

Written by C. Raja Mohan | Published: November 28, 2017 12:35 am

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (center) attend the opening ceremony of Future Investment Initiative Conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (File Photo)

Mohammad bin Salman, the bold crown prince of Saudi Arabia, has been making waves with a muscular foreign policy, an ambitious economic agenda to wean the kingdom away from oil, the will to destroy the domestic political order and plans for social liberalisation. Conventional wisdom warns pursuing any one of these four elements would be politically suicidal. But the 32-year old crown prince, promoted out of turn by his father King Salman, is pressing ahead.