From Tianjin, Jordan to Ethiopia: PM Modi’s ‘car diplomacy’ gains global spotlight

Seen as a mark of special respect, these gestures underscore a growing trend of personal diplomacy in Prime Minister Modi’s engagements with foreign leaders

Upon his arrival in Ethiopia on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was welcomed by his Ethiopian counterpart Abiy Ahmed Ali at Addis Ababa Airport, who then drove him to the hotel.

The gesture was similar to what he received in Jordan, where Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II personally drove Modi, marking another symbolic moment of what is now being seen as ‘car diplomacy’.

PM Modi’s ‘car diplomacy’ in spotlight

It all started when Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Russian President Vladimir Putin in Tianjin. Their car ride -- on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) -- in September 2025 was highlighted by the international media.

Recently, on Putin’s visit to India, PM Modi broke protocol and received the Russian President at Palam airport. The two leaders then travelled in a white Toyota Fortuner to 7 Lok Kalyan Marg, the official residence of the PM.

The Ethiopia visit adds to a series of instances highlighting PM Modi’s informal engagements with world leaders, including shared car rides during official tours.

Prior to that, he concluded a two-day visit to Jordan to mark 75 years of diplomatic relations. In an unusual gesture, Jordan’s Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II personally drove the Prime Minister to the Jordan Museum in Amman during the first bilateral visit by an Indian prime minister to Jordan in 37 years.

"On the way to the Jordan Museum with His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II," Modi wrote on X, sharing pictures from their car ride in which he was seen sitting in the passenger seat of the 31-year-old’s BMW car.

What the gesture means?

Seen as a mark of special respect, these gestures underscore a growing trend of personal diplomacy in Prime Minister Modi’s engagements with foreign leaders. Their significance is evident in the fact that such images even figured in a US Congress hearing, highlighting their wider geopolitical impact.

The viral image of PM Modi with Putin, captured during the latter’s India visit, surfaced in the US Congress as a Democrat lawmaker cautioned that President Donald Trump’s tariff regime and tough approach toward New Delhi could push a crucial American alliance toward Moscow.

Sydney Kamlager-Dove lashed out at Trump for his policies towards India, including the 50 per cent tariffs, the highest in the world and the $100,000 fee on H-1B visas that are used by a large number of Indians to live and work in the US.

“Trump's policies towards India can only be described as cutting our nose to spite our face,” she said, arguing that current pressure tactics were doing “real and lasting damage to the strategic trust and mutual understanding between our two countries.”

"Because let me be clear, being a coercive partner has a cost. And this poster is worth a thousand words,” she said, displaying a photograph of PM Modi and Putin.