President greets new Saudi king

New Delhi, Jan 28 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee Wednesday greeted the new king of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, on his accession to the throne.

"It gives me immense pleasure to extend warm greetings and congratulations on behalf of the government and the people of India and on my own behalf, to your majesty on your accession to the throne," Mukherjee said in a message.

"Relations between our two friendly countries have historically been close, characterised by extensive people-to-people contacts and deep mutual respect.

"I am confident that the ongoing cooperation across the full spectrum of political, economic and cultural activities between our two countries will continue to diversify and further strengthen for the mutual benefit of our two peoples," he said.

King Salman succeeds Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who died Jan 23, weeks after being admitted to a hospital for lung infection. King Abdullah ruled the Saudi kingdom since 2005.