Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Jordan on December 15-16 at the invitation of His Majesty King Abdullah was a historic milestone in the 75th year of establishment of diplomatic relations between India and the Hashemite Kingdom. Prime Minister Modi posted that his visit to Jordan has been “immensely productive” and he thanked His Majesty and the people of Jordan for their “exceptional friendship.” He added that his discussions during the visit have strengthened India-Jordan partnership across key areas, such as renewable energy, water management, digital transformation, cultural exchanges and heritage cooperation, and the outcomes achieved “will open new avenues for progress and prosperity of our citizens.” His Majesty stated that the visit presented an important opportunity to chart new paths for economic cooperation across various sectors, strengthening the robust partnership between the two countries.

 

Prime Minister Modi also “interacted extensively” with HRH Crown Prince Hussein and admired his passion for Jordan’s progress. Prime Minister wrote on X that Crown Prince Hussein’s contributions in areas such as youth development, sports, space, innovation and furthering welfare of persons with disabilities are truly remarkable. He also had excellent conversations with Prime Minister Jaafar Hassan, with the two leaders focusing specially on bilateral, economic, educational and people-to-people linkages.

 

During Prime Minister Modi’s visit, the two sides also inked two MoUs in the areas of renewable energy and water resources management. They also signed an agreement on Cultural Exchange Programme and a Letter of Intent for Cooperation in the field of digital transformation, apart from a twinning agreement between Petra City and Ellora Cave Site in Maharashtra, India. The modern partnership between the two friendly countries was reinforced through these mechanisms, even as ancient linkages were revived for promoting mutual understanding and tourism.

 

The business forum that was held to coincide with the visit of Prime Minister Modi was also graced by His Majesty and His Royal Highness the Crown Prince. Their esteemed presence at the business forum, which was attended by some of the top business leaders and officials from both sides, demonstrated the strong political commitment at the highest level to deepen the economic partnerships and technological linkages.

 

Prime Minister Modi’s eight-point vision to strengthen India-Jordan bilateral relations included: doubling the bilateral trade to $5 billion over the next five years, encouraging long term arrangements with augmentation of investment in fertilisers, linking of Jordan’s digital payment system with UPI & RuPay Card for promoting business and tourism, shared interests and expertise in healthcare, proposed cooperation in public transport and railway expansion, to complement natural resources of Jordan in critical and strategic minerals with Indian industrial expertise, civil nuclear cooperation with capacity building in nuclear sector and strengthening of people-to-people ties by promoting tourism and cultural linkages. The PM also extended an invitation to Jordan for WAVES Summit to be organised in India next year.

 

India deeply values its cooperation with Jordan in countering extremism in all its forms. Its principled leadership in promoting moderation, dialogue and religious co-existence has earned Jordan global respect. Our two nations share a common understanding that extremism poses a grave threat not only to security, but also to social harmony and the shared values of humanity.

 

India looks forward to further strengthening engagement with Jordan on security matters through enhanced dialogue and capacity building. They would continue with their excellent cooperation in multilateral forums with the shared objective of fostering peace, stability and resilience in our societies

 

Prime Minister Modi stated that geography is Jordan’s strength while India possesses both skill and scale. When these strengths come together, they will create new opportunities for the youth of both countries. This unprecedented visit of Prime Minister Modi and the exceptional response from His Majesty King Abdullah and His Royal Highness the Crown Princ