US President Barack Obama hosts youthful Saudi Arabian Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the White House on Friday, underscoring his guest’s meteoric rise and increasingly pivotal role in strained US-Saudi ties.

White House spokesman Eric Schultz said Obama would meet the 30-year-old deputy crown prince, who has become the driving force behind economic reform and a more activist Saudi foreign policy.

King Salman’s son, who is his country’s defense minister, has met the very biggest of Washington’s big hitters during a week-long visit. He held talks with the CIA director, the secretaries of state, defence and treasury, as well as leading members of Congress.

Source: indianexpress.com