When Prime Minister Manmohan Singh meets King Abdullah today in New Delhi’s Hyderabad House, it would be safe to bet that the Saudi delegation would have more PhDs and Ivy League degrees than the Indian, even after counting the doctorates of the prime minister and his media adviser.

It would be easy — and regrettably misleading — to let the traditional robes of the royal entourage reinforce popular Indian misconception that the Saudis are a spoilt bunch of camel-driving Bedouin.

As India embarks on a long-term engagement with the Saudi Kingdom, its bureaucracy must cultivate a healthy respect for the sophistication of the Saudi elite. India must also recognise that King Abdullah is the first serious reformer the Saudi Kingdom has ever seen.

In the few months since he assumed the throne, King Abdullah has launched a series of measures that could transform, slowly but surely, the nature of the historic political contract between the House of Saud and the Islamic clergy.

The future of political Islam and the modernisation of the Greater Middle East critically depend upon the success of King Abdullah’s reforms. And India, which hosts the world’s second largest Muslim population, would fervently hope that King Abdullah’s would emerge victorious.

The charm offensive before and during King Abdullah’s historic visit to India is part of a conscious decision to showcase a new political style that the House of Saud has now adopted. It also highlights the political savvy the House of Saud has demonstrated whenever it wanted to. Much like the canny Indian bureaucratic state that has presided over a backward and diverse nation, the House of Saud too has adeptly run one of the world’s richest and most pivotal states.

The House of Saud has had the additional responsibility of administering the land that holds Islam’s holiest shrines and one of the world’s most conservative societies.

The absence of sustained engagement between the two elites has meant that the House of Saud fully reciprocated India’s prejudices. A recognition of mutual strengths and skills would be the first step towards forming an enduring partnership between India and Saudi Arabia.

For all its many other faults, including the blind eye it had turned on the sources of religious extremism until 9/11, the House of Saud should be given credit where due.

It has prevented mavericks and self-proclaimed messiahs from different parts of the petroleum-rich world into over-playing the oil card. As a large energy consuming nation, India just cannot afford to forget the consistent role adopted by the House of Saud over the last many decades as the swing-state that regulated its own production to maintain oil prices at a reasonable level.

King Abdullah’s remarks to an Indian television channel that the current oil prices are at too high a level are a reflection of the wisdom with which Riyadh has always tried to manage the international politics of oil.

And for all the criticisms of its authoritarian rule, the House of Saud has been no more offensive than the Arab dictators who ran ruthless political machines in the name of republicanism and socialism.

To be sure, the events of 9/11 have brought into full view the many problems that confront the House of Saud. Most of the hijackers and organisers came from Saudi Arabia, shocking the nation into confronting the rise of extremism at home.

While Indian analysts have talked themselves hoarse on Saudi support to religious extremism and terrorism, they have paid little attention to the intensive war that the House of Saud has fought against terrorism on its own soil in the last few years.

The House of Saud is fighting terror not merely because of American instigation. Terrorists pose a threat to the House of Saud itself.

Since 9/11, the House of Saud has also sought to cope with the larger set of challenges — popular discontent with the political orer, and the inability of the oil-fed welfare state to cope with growing unemployment to name just a few.

If there is any one particular feature that distinguishes the House of Saud, it is that instinct for survival against all odds. Recognising the fundamental threat to the future of the Saudi State, King Abdullah has unveiled a sweeping reform agenda in the few months he has been in full command.

From the simple decision to celebrate a national independence day — there could be nothing “secular” or “national” in a land that is so comprehensively dominated by transcendental religion — to holding its first local council elections, from getting the Kingdom into WTO to new laws that address working women’s rights, from opening up a wide-ranging national conversation on rights of religious minorities to the conscious creation of a new generation leaders, King Abdullah has brought political hope to a nation that has long shunned reform.

King Abdullah, however, knows the importance of making haste slowly. While he cannot afford to confront the clergy, whose alliance with the House of Saud is the core organising principle of the state, he has sought to limit their all pervasive influence.