Coming on the heels of recent visits by the Israeli, Palestine and Iranian heads of state, Jordan King Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein's three-day visit hints the focus India is giving to increasing its influence in the West Asia and Middle East. Prime Minister Narendra Modi set the tone for Jordan King's visit as he went to receive him at the airport, breaking the protocol.
What otherwise would have been a low key visit, suddenly found itself elevated, especially, when Canada PM Justin Trudeau's just-concluded tour was hit by controversy over 'snub' by Modi. In this process, Modi has made a distinction about with whom he would go out of the way to engage.
King Abdullah is visiting India after 12 years, with an aim to boost trade and defence ties. Before his meeting with Modi for bilateral talks on Thursday, the visiting dignitary met External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, visited IIT Delhi, and addressed Indo-Jordan Business Forum.
Also Read
- PM Modi conferred with Oman's highest award, his 29th top civilian honour from a foreign nation
- PM Modi receives warm welcome in Muscat as India, Oman mark 70 years of ties
- EXPLAINED | What is VB-G RAM G? New rural employment law to replace UPA-era MNREGA
- 'Modi's grave will be dug' slogan: Rijiju demands apology from Kharge, Rahul Gandhi
- Lionel Messi India visit: PM Modi to skip Delhi event; traffic restrictions in place to avoid Kolkata chaos
One of the significant aspects of his visit is a lecture on Islamic heritage and promoting understanding and moderation. Islamic theologians, intellectuals and PM Modi would be attendance. King Abdullah is the 41st generation descendant of Prophet Muhammad and the Custodian of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem.
This lecture is of significance as King Abdullah had been promoting the moderate version of Islam and a message to even India's Islamic community even as some incidents of radicalisation are being reported from different parts of the country.
After Swaraj met King Abdullah, the ministry officials termed the meeting as “good conversation on strengthening ties across all sectors, especially in trade and investment, defence and security, tourism and people-to-people exchanges."
During his half-an-hour visit to the IIT Delhi, King Abdullah met IIT director V. Ramgopal Rao and deans of various departments to discuss the areas in which they can enter into collaboration, including artificial intelligence. IIT officials did not divulge details about the meeting, saying it was a closed-door event.
During his address at the Indo-Jordan business meeting, King Abdullah said his current visit would strengthen Jordanian companies' investments in India. Currently, India-Jordan trade stood at $1.35 billion in 2016-17.
The last high level state visit was by former president Pranab Mukherjee to Jordan from October 10 to 12 in 2015. Six agreements were signed in various fields of cooperation, including on cultural exchange programme, maritime transport, Bureau of Indian Standards and Jordan Standards and Metrology Organisation, Foreign Service Institute of India and Jordan Institute of Diplomacy.