President Joe Biden “warmly greeted” Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman after they appeared together along with several other leaders at the Group of 20 summit Saturday in New Delhi, India, according to the Associated Press, as relations between the two nations continue on an upswing in recent months.
The leaders had gathered to announce an ambitious plan to build a rail and shipping corridor linking India with the Middle East and Europe.
The project is “one of the key initiatives the White House has been pushing internationally to counter Beijing’s growing influence and create an alternative to China’s Belt and Road vision of which the Middle East is a key part, Axios writes.
“We will invest in railways and shipping lines from India to Europe that will be connected through Saudi Arabia, UAE, Jordan and Israel,” Biden said.
A photo shows President Biden smiling and shaking hands with the crown prince as the announcement wrapped up. This year’s G20 host, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, quickly draped his own hand over their hands, the AP notes.
The greeting is a signal of a warming U.S.-Saudi relationship in recent months as the two countries explore new avenues of bilateral cooperation.
