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Story highlights White House: President Barack Obama will stop in Riyadh to pay respects to Saudi royals Obama is cutting short a visit to India to enable him to make the stop

Vice President Joe Biden was originally set to have led a delegation to Saudi Arabia on Obama's behalf.

However, the schedule for the President's departure from India has been adjusted to allow Obama to stop in Riyadh himself on his way home, White House press secretary Josh Earnest said.

Funeral services were held Friday for King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al Saud, who died earlier that day. He was 90.

World leaders are now traveling to the Saudi capital, Riyadh, to offer condolences for Abdullah's death and pay their respects to the new ruler.

Abdullah was seen by many as a cautious reformer who succeeded in securing broader freedoms in the conservative kingdom, but fell short in gaining greater independence for women.

King Abdullah's legacy: 5 things to know

His successor, who is 79, faces a number of challenges as he takes up the reins, including Iran, the rise of ISIS, the crisis in neighboring Yemen and the drop in oil prices.

But Salman has plenty of experience to draw on, having served as defense minister and deputy prime minister of Saudi Arabia, a vital U.S. ally in the Middle East. Like Abdullah, he is one of the dozens of sons of Saudi Arabia's founder, King Abdulaziz.

Obama is due to arrive in New Delhi on Sunday, on a trip intended to foster progress in sometimes thorny U.S.-India ties.

Original post:
Obama will pay respects to new Saudi King Salman

Published January 24, 2015

Jan. 23, 2015: An Indian worker places an American flag on a flag pole in New Delhi, India.(AP)

WASHINGTON President Barack Obama will seek to leverage his burgeoning bond with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi into progress on climate change, defense and economic ties as he opens a three-day visit to New Delhi.

Relations between the U.S. and India have been strained in recent years, but Obama and Modi developed a good rapport during a visit in Washington last fall. Modi sought to return the favor by inviting Obama to travel to India as his guest for the annual Republic Day festivities, which mark the day in 1950 that the country's constitution came into force.

"It took us by some surprise," said Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser. "There's a great affinity between the United States and India and our people, but there's also a history that is complicated and that would have made it seem highly unlikely that a U.S. president would be sitting with India's leaders at their Republic Day ceremony."

After some internal deliberations, the White House accepted Modi's offer. The visit also includes a fresh round of bilateral meetings with Modi, an economic summit with U.S. and Indian business leaders and a visit to India's famed Taj Mahal.

Obama will be the first U.S. president to visit India twice while in office; he also traveled there in 2010 for an economic summit. First lady Michelle Obama will be with the president when he arrives in New Delhi on Sunday.

The president's visit is expected to be heavy on symbolism and lighter on substantive advances, though climate change, economics and defense ties are all on the agenda. Indian political commentator Ashok Malik said expectations for concrete deliverables during the visit are "below the standards usually set by U.S. presidents when they travel across the world for a three-day visit."

Still, U.S. and Indian officials appear to agree that even a symbolic show of solidarity between the leaders would be a sign of progress after recent difficulties.

While military cooperation and U.S. defense sales have grown, Washington has been frustrated by India's failure to open up to more foreign investment and to address complaints alleging intellectual property violations. India's liability legislation has also prevented U.S. companies from capitalizing on a landmark civil nuclear agreement between the two countries in 2008.

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Obama seeks to leverage ties with India's Modi

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