International
oi-Prakash KL
Washington,
Nov
19:
Saudi
Prince
Mohammed
Bin
Salman
has
been
given
the
same
protection
as
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
and
a
few
other
world
leaders
were
afforded
in
the
past,
a
US
State
Department
spokesperson
on
Friday
said
in
a
briefing.
On
questioning
about
granting
immunity
over
the
murder
of
journalist
Jamal
Khashoggi,
US
State
Department
Principal
Deputy
Spokesperson
Vedant
Patel
said,
“This
is
not
the
first
time
that
the
United
States
has
done
this.
It
is
a
longstanding
and
consistent
line
of
effort.”
Explaining
further,
Patel
said,
“It
has
been
applied
to
a
number
of
heads
of
state
previously.
Some
examples:
President
Aristide
in
Haiti
in
1993,
President
Mugabe
in
Zimbabwe
in
2001,
Prime
Minister
Modi
in
India
in
2014,
and
President
Kabila
in
the
DRC
in
2018.
This
is
a
consistent
practice
that
we
have
afforded
to
heads
of
state,
heads
of
government,
and
foreign
ministers.”
The
US
had
put
PM
Modi,
then
Gujarat
chief
minister,
on
a
visa
ban
in
2005
over
Gujarat
2002
riots.
It
had
maintained
the
same
position
till
he
was
elected
as
the
Prime
Minister
with
a
thumping
majority
in
2014.
Thereafter,
the
situation
dramatically
changed
and
the
PM
has
visited
the
US
several
times
in
the
last
eight
years.
Saudi
Arabia
exempts
Indian
visa
applicants
from
submitting
police
clearance
certificate
Coming
to
37-year-old
crown
prince
Mohammed
bin
Salman,
he
replaced
the
King
as
the
Prime
Minister
in
September.
The
gruesome
murder
of
Saudi
journalist
Jamal
Khashoggi,
a
Washington
Post
columnist
who
wrote
critically
about
Saudi
Crown
Prince
Mohammed
bin
Salman,
inside
the
kingdom’s
Istanbul
consulate
in
October
2018,
tarnished
his
image,
globally.
Story first published: Saturday, November 19, 2022, 15:47 [IST]