135delhi declaration, January 2006
The most crucial moment in the bilateral relations came when King
Abdullah was given the honour of being the chief guest in the Republic
Day celebrations in January 2006. Ever since the practice began in 1950,
India has been hosting heads of state and government both to spice up the
occasion and to convey the importance it attaches to the visiting dignitary.
For long, the Middle Eastern leaders were conspicuously absent from the
pageantry and despite the widespread perception about the Nehru-Nasser
friendship, the honour eluded the Egyptian leader. In 2001, Algerian
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika became the first Middle Eastern leader to
be the chief guest and this was followed by Iranian President Mohammed
Khatami in 2003, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in 2006 and Emirati
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayad al-Nahyan in 2017.
Thus, in January 2006, King Abdullah became the third leader from
the region and the first Saudi monarch to witness the ceremonial Republic
Day parade where India exhibits not only its cultural diversity but also its
military might. Abdullah was the second Saudi monarch to visit India and
the first one since the visit by his half-brother Saud in 1954. Indeed, dur-
ing her visit to the Kingdom in 1982, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
invited the then King Faisal, Crown Prince Fahd as well as the “Second
Deputy Prime Minister” Abdullah to visit India (India, Foreign Affairs
Record 1982 , 136). Only Abdullah could make the trip and that too
34 years after the original invitation. The visit had all the pomp and pag-
eantry associated with the occasion, but in line with his orthodox beliefs,
the Saudi monarch refrained from paying homage to Mahatma Gandhi in
Rajghat. King Abdullah was not disrespectful towards the leader of
India’s freedom struggle, but floral tributes to the black marble marking
Gandhi’s memorial are construed as idol worship and hence unacceptable
in Wahhabi Islam.
The highlight of the visit was the Delhi Declaration wherein both Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh and King Abdullah pledged “to work together
closely for the welfare and benefit of their people and for peace and stabil-
ity in the region and the world” (Annexure 6 ). The leaders reiterated their
commitment to “tolerance, harmony and diversity between societies and
the importance of dialogue.” While this has been the traditional Indian
position reflecting its religious and cultural diversity, its inclusion in the
Declaration signalled a Saudi shift towards socio-religious accommoda-
tion. For decades, Islam, as practiced in Saudi Arabia, has been exclusive
THE SHIFT