Jordan’s King Abdullah II is on a state visit to India from February 27 to March 1. His last visit was in 2006 with Queen Rania. The importance of the visit and the dignitary is confirmed by the fact the PM Modi, in an unusual gesture, received the King on arrival reciprocating a similar gesture by his guest earlier in the month. PM Modi was in Amman in transit en route to Palestine. King was abroad to Islamabad and UAE but cut it short to meet PM Modi in Amman with whom he has developed a close rapport since the two met in New York in September 2015 on the side-lines of UNGA. In fact, this was the first significant high-level interaction in over a decade but it set the tone and tenor of the future cooperation especially in the defence and security areas.