NEW DELHI, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left for a four-day tour to the Middle East on Friday, which will bring an Indian premier to Palestine for the first time.
The visit to Jordan, Palestine, Oman and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is being described to be having strategic importance in terms of energy and security cooperation and counter-terrorism efforts.
Modi is expected to arrive in Amman Friday afternoon and meet Jordan King Abdullah II. His next stop-over would be in Ramallah. Modi's visit to Palestine would be his first, though the he has met Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas on three previous occasions.
Modi's Palestine visit comes just six months after his ground-breaking visit to Israel, and just weeks after he hosted his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu in Delhi. In Palestine he will lay a wreath at the Yasser Arafat memorial, said officials in India's External Affairs Ministry.
Meanwhile, the highpoint of Modi's current Middle East tour would be his "temple diplomacy." In UAE he will lay the foundation stone for a new temple for the Hindu community living there. And in Oman Modi is scheduled to pay a visit to a 200-year-old temple dedicated to Lord Shiva.
In UAE he will be addressing the 6th World Government Summit in Dubai, where India is the guest country of honor.
