As Prime Minister Modi jets off to Amman, Jordan on Monday for his first official visit, a question lingers: why Jordan when King Abdullah II was in Pakistan only a month ago? Not to mention the half-century old ties between the Jordanian and Pakistani armed forces.

Would not a visit to Iraq have been more appropriate given that trade flows between Baghdad and New Delhi was around $37 bn last year, compared to less than $3 billion between India and Jordan.

Even in terms of diaspora, there are an estimated 33,000 Indians in Iraq working in the oil, construction and health sectors, as against 17,000 in Jordan.

But Jordan under King Abdullah has been politically moderate in a volatile region. It is a front line state bordering Israel, maintains diplomatic ties and keeps the conversation

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