"Playing a big role": Jordan's Tourism Minister highlights India's role on international front

While addressing a press conference on Monday, Queisi said that he travelled to India to participate in the World Heritage Committee meeting. He noted that the World Heritage Committee meeting is being held for the first time in India and called it important for India and UNESCO.

The World Heritage Committee meets annually and is responsible for managing all matters related to World Heritage and deciding on sites to be inscribed on the World Heritage List. Notably, the inauguration of the World Heritage Committee session took place on Sunday at Bharat Mandapam in the national capital. This significant event will run until July 31, 2024.

Asked on what brings him to India, he responded, "Two reasons, actually, The first one is to participate in the World Heritage Committee meeting, which is very, very important. It's the first time it's been held in India. And it's not only important for India; it's also important for UNESCO, because holding such a prestigious, important meeting for UNESCO in a country like India, rich in culture, history, a great nation, great people, and a great, not only ancient history, but also in the modern days, India is a growing economy."

"India constitutes a country that is playing a big role, not only in the region but actually on the international front. So yes, we are participating here because we have a site to be inscribed on the World Heritage List of UNESCO. This will be the seventh to be inscribed. It's important for us because this represents part of the Nabataean civilization that we are proud of with the centrepiece maybe or the capital of this civilization in Petra," he added.

Highlighting the importance of Petra for Jordan, he stated, "Petra for us is not only architecture. For us, Petra is a fully fledged civilization. Petra for us is a trade route, a commerce centre that connected, in the past 2,000 years, India with our part of the world. The Silk Road was a major component of this civilization. So, ...is also an extension of this important civilization. Number two is to conduct a bilateral sort of business between Jordan and India."

During the press conference, he also talked about the meeting he was scheduled to have with the Union Minister of Culture and Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. He said that he will discuss increasing the number of tourists travelling from India to Jordan, direct flights between Amman and New Delhi and cooperation between two nations in various sectors, including archaeology. (ANI)