PM Modi to visit Jordan, Ethiopia and Oman next week to strengthen India’s strategic horizon

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing for a four-day visit to Jordan, Ethiopia and Oman beginning on Monday, a tour aimed at strengthening India’s bilateral partnerships with a particular focus on trade, defence and wider strategic cooperation. The Ministry of External Affairs expects the trip to reinforce India’s outreach across West Asia and Africa at a time when regional alignments are shifting, and economic engagement is expanding.

The first stop will be Jordan, where the Prime Minister will travel from December 15 to 16 December at the invitation of King Abdullah II bin Al Hussein. Officials in New Delhi say the visit is intended to review the full spectrum of relations between the two nations, which have gradually broadened from traditional political exchanges to more substantive cooperation in areas such as security, capacity building and economic partnership.

Opportunity to push India’s stand

The MEA described the engagement as an opportunity to deepen collaboration and reaffirm India’s commitment to regional peace and stability. It noted that the prime minister’s discussions in Amman will allow both sides to “further strengthen India Jordan engagement, explore new avenues of collaboration for growth and prosperity, and reiterate New Delhi’s commitment to promote regional peace, security and stability”.

PM Modi to spend two days in Ethiopia

Following his engagements in Jordan, Modi will head to Ethiopia for a two day visit from December 16 to 17. This will be his first trip to the East African nation, a country of growing geopolitical and economic importance as it navigates internal recovery and renewed diplomatic outreach. In Addis Ababa, he is expected to hold extensive talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali that will encompass the political partnership, trade and investment interests, development cooperation and India’s expanding role in Africa’s digital and health sectors.

The MEA emphasised the significance of the visit by stating, “As partners in the Global South, the visit will be a reiteration of the shared commitment of the two nations to advance close ties of friendship and bilateral cooperation”.

Prime Minister to meet Sultan Haitham bin Tarik in Oman

The final leg of Modi’s tour will take him to Oman from December 17 to 18 at the invitation of Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. This will be Modi’s second visit to the Gulf nation and comes at a moment when both sides have been negotiating a free trade agreement, which is expected to be concluded during the trip. The MEA noted that “India and Oman share an all encompassing strategic partnership underpinned by centuries old bonds of friendship, trade linkages and strong people to people ties”, highlighting the long standing nature of the bilateral connection.

Modi’s visit will also coincide with the seventieth anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two nations and follows the state visit of Sultan Tarik to India in December 2023. According to the MEA, “This visit will be an opportunity for both sides to comprehensively review the bilateral partnership, including in the areas of trade, investment, energy, defence, security, technology, agriculture and culture as well as exchange views on regional and global issues of mutual interest”.