Defence co-operation among twelve India-Jordan agreements signed

In keeping with New Delhi's increasing engagement with West Asia, India and Jordan signed 12 agreements, including a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on defence cooperation, following a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and King of Jordan Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein on Thursday.

The MoU is aimed at promoting cooperation between India and Jordan in the field of defence by defining the scope of such cooperation and making provisions for implementation of the cooperation in some of the recognised areas like training, defence industry, counter-terrorism, military studies, cyber security, military medical services and peacekeeping, according to the Ministry of External Affairs.

The two sides also signed a MoU on cooperation in the field of health and medicine.

The objective of this MoU is to establish and encourage cooperation in the fields of health, medical science, medical education and research on the basis of equality and mutual benefits in accordance with the respective legislations and regulations of India and Jordan.

The various recognised areas of mutual cooperation include universal health coverage, services and IT in health, health research, national health statistics, diagnosis, treatment and medication of tuberculosis and regulation of pharmaceuticals and medical devices.

Another agreement was signed on manpower cooperation which provides for cooperation between India and Jordan with a view to promote best practices in the administration of contract employment of the Indian nationals in Jordan.

Jordan is home to more than 10,000 Indians, who are employed in the textile, construction and manufacturing sectors, fertiliser companies, health sector, universities, IT and financial companies,

A MoU was also signed for setting up of a next generation centre of excellence (CoE) in Jordan for training of at least 3,000 Jordanian IT professionals over a period of five years, and setting up of a resource centre in India for training of master trainers in the IT field from Jordan.

Other agreements signed include long-term supply of rock phosphate and fertilisers to India, mutual assistance between India and Jordan to ensure proper application of the customs legislations in the two countries, cultural exchange programme between the two countries from 2018 to 2022.

King Abdullah arrived here on Tuesday on a three-day state visit. This is his second visit to India after his trip with Queen Rania in 2006.