India, Dec. 15 -- As Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi visits Jordan, Ethiopia and Oman from December 15, as part of his latest leadership interactions abroad, he cannot but be conscious that he is retracing the path of deep and substantial civilisational interactions that our ancestors have traversed over millennia. For centuries, Indian traders, scholars, philosophers, religious teachers and ordinary seamen have crossed the waters of the Indian Ocean to the Gulf and engaged with their counterparts from Oman to Mesopotamia. Again, braving the dangerous Red Sea, they have traded with the coastal states while on their way to Rome. These historic ties have remained vibrant and mutually beneficial as Indian enterprise has ensured that the changing needs of its foreign partners are met. But the PM's latest conclaves with regional leaders are taking place amid severe insecurity and uncertainty. The broad West Asian landscape and the Red Sea littoral have been severely destabilised by the horrendous Gaza war and the ongoing big power competitions in the Indian Ocean. While India is engaging with the major players - the US, China and Russia - to safeguard its interests in this volatile period, its priority concerns lie in the western Indian Ocean, and it is here that PM Modi will need to address diverse challenges. India's relations with the three countries that will host him are generally good, with several initiatives also under discussion to take these ties into new frontier areas. With Jordan, bilateral trade stands at $2.87 billion and is anchored in purchases of phosphates and phosphoric acid, with foodstuffs, chemicals and industrial manufacture making up the rest. Both sides are expected to look at Indian investments in renewable energy, information technology, Artificial Intelligence, and the development of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone. Oman-India trade is about $12.4 billion, and is largely based on Indian imports of oil, natural gas, and fertiliser, and exports of petroleum products. The visit is likely to see the signing of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) that will boost trade in goods and services. Indo-Ethiopian trade is a modest half a billion dollars, dominated by Indian exports. But the PM's visit to these three capitals goes far beyond a short-term focus on trade and investments. In March this year, PM Modi had articulated a new maritime vision for India: Ten years after SAGAR, he spoke of MAHASAGAR - "Mutual and Holistic Advancement of Security and Growth across all Regions". This vision not only envisages a much broader regional maritime space in terms of India's interests, it also includes a substantial expansion of political, defence, economic and cultural ties across this geography. The Indian Navy is expected to emerge as the credible first responder in regional crises and the preferred security partner in the Indian Ocean littoral, before expanding to other oceans. All three countries being visited by the PM are within the ambit of the new maritime doctrine. Jordan has remarkable geopolitical importance: It borders five West Asian countries - Israel, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. It also has a presence in the Red Sea - the port of Aqaba (astride the Israeli port of Eilat) is located on the Gulf of Aqaba, which is an offshoot of the Red Sea. Located between Asia and Africa, it has been a major trade and maritime centre for several millennia. Ethiopia is landlocked, being separated from the Red Sea by a tiny sliver of Eritrean territory. Its principal maritime outlet is Djibouti, though, in January 2024, Ethiopia signed an agreement with Somaliland (Somalia's separatist province) to link Addis Ababa by road and rail with a port on the Red Sea, most probably Berbera. Ethiopia is at the heart of the fragile and conflict-prone Horn of Africa that includes Eritrea, Somalia and Djibouti. The Horn dominates the Gulf of Aden, the Bab al-Mandab Strait that opens into the Red Sea, and the Red Sea itself. Indian trade valued at over $200 billion passes through the Red Sea annually. However, global commerce has been frequently disrupted over the last two decades as the unstable region has spawned piracy, drug smuggling, human trafficking and, more recently, attacks on global shipping by Houthi militants in Yemen. Oman dominates the Straits of Hormuz, the world's most important strait for energy and food security and world trade, and has a 750-km coastline on the Indian Ocean. Indo-Oman maritime ties are historic and substantial, with the Indian Navy enjoying access to Omani ports, including Muscat, Sohar and the newly developed Port of Duqm in the south. Modi's forthcoming visit offers a valuable opportunity to promote the MAHASAGAR vision by discussing with the hosts how the vision could be translated into a robust partnership. It could prepare the ground for specialised teams from India to interact with regional counterparts to identify the challenges to be addressed, the resources to be garnered, details of exercises to promote interoperability, and organisation of command structures to ensure coordination. The Indian Ocean has, for several centuries, bonded diverse peoples in its littoral and built close civilisational ties that are reflected in the high level of cultural comfort that the people now share with each other. In the face of contemporary anxieties and challenges, it is natural that India should take the lead to promote partnerships for regional security and prosperity....