A Desert Bridge

India’s courtship of Jordan blends history, hard interests and quiet diplomacy.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Jordan, the first full bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister in nearly four decades, was stripped of ceremony and sentimentality and marked a careful recalibration of India’s engagement with a pivotal, if understated, West Asian partner at a moment of regional flux.

India and Jordan have enjoyed cordial relations since 1950, but for much of that period the relationship remained polite rather than purposeful. The two countries occupied different strategic orbits during the Cold War, and New Delhi’s diplomatic energies in West Asia were traditionally focused on the Gulf monarchies, Israel and Iran. Jordan, a resource-poor kingdom with an outsized diplomatic footprint, was rarely at the centre of India’s regional calculations. That neglect is now being corrected.

Modi’s visit, that was timed to coincide with the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the countries, was intended to signal continuity as much as change. India has increasingly cast itself as a ‘bridging power’ - a country able to talk to rival camps without becoming captive to any. Jordan, ruled by King Abdullah II, plays a similar role in a fractured West Asia: maintaining peace with Israel, hosting waves of refugees, and acting as a discreet interlocutor in regional crises, including the war in Gaza. Their convergence is not accidental.

Maturing Relationship

The substance of the visit lay in five memoranda of understanding covering renewable energy, water management, digital transformation, cultural exchange and tourism. Individually, none is revolutionary. Collectively, they point to a maturing partnership focused less on rhetoric and more on problem-solving. Water scarcity and energy transition are existential issues for Jordan; digital public infrastructure and low-cost renewables are areas where India has accumulated practical experience. For New Delhi, Jordan offers not only a stable partner but also a strategic waypoint in a wider regional vision.

That vision increasingly revolves around the India–Middle East–Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), an ambitious plan to link South Asia with Europe through ports, railways and digital networks across West Asia. Jordan’s geographic position and political moderation make it a natural stakeholder. While IMEC remains aspirational, India’s courtship of Jordan suggests an effort to anchor the project in countries that value predictability over posturing.

Economic ties, though modest, are being nudged upwards. Bilateral trade stands at roughly $2.8bn; both sides now speak of doubling it to $5bn. More significant than the headline figure is the composition of trade. Jordan is a key supplier of phosphates, vital for India’s fertiliser security. Joint ventures such as the India–Jordan Fertiliser Company have helped insulate Indian farmers from volatile global prices. In an era of supply-chain anxiety, such arrangements carry weight disproportionate to their size.

Culture, too, was pressed into diplomatic service. An agreement to ‘twin’ Petra with the Ellora Caves may reflected a deeper logic rooted in civilisational diplomacy. Both sites are not merely tourist attractions but monumental expressions of how ancient societies blended faith, technology and landscape into enduring works of art. Petra, carved into Jordan’s rose-red sandstone, and Ellora, hewn from basalt cliffs in the Deccan, testify to an age when architecture travelled alongside trade, ideas and belief systems. Twinning them is less about symbolism for its own sake than about institutionalising cooperation in conservation, archaeology and heritage management.

India’s Archaeological Survey, now a century old, has developed a formidable reputation in conservation at home and abroad. Jordan, custodian of some of the world’s most fragile heritage sites, has reason to tap that expertise. Modi was keen to invoke ancient trade routes linking Gujarat to the Mediterranean - an allusion meant to place contemporary cooperation in a longue durée of exchange.

Regional security hovered in the background. India has consistently argued for dialogue over force, whether in Ukraine or Gaza, a position that resonates in Amman. Jordan’s own balancing act - condemning radical Islamic violence while maintaining channels to all sides - mirrors India’s instinctive caution. Counter-terrorism cooperation and food security were discussed without bombast, reflecting a shared preference for incrementalism.

There was, inevitably, some stage-setting. Jordan has expressed interest in joining the International Solar Alliance, an Indian-led initiative that blends climate diplomacy with geopolitical branding. India, for its part, hinted at a role in post-conflict reconstruction in Syria, aligning itself with Jordan’s hopes for regional stabilisation without overcommitting.

At a time when America is raising trade barriers and West Asia remains unsettled, India is diversifying its partnerships with care. Jordan, pragmatic and well-connected, fits neatly into that approach. For both countries, the relationship offers reassurance rather than adventure.

(The writer is a foreign affairs expert. Views personal.)