Rishi Sunak welcomes King Abdullah of Jordan to No 10

The monarch caught Downing Street off guard by arriving early on Friday, meaning he missed the customary doorstep handshake with the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and King Abdullah II of Jordan have held talks in Downing Street (Jonathan Brady/PA) (PA Wire)

Rishi Sunak and King Abdullah II of Jordan have discussed co-operating on solar and wind power projects during talks in Downing Street.

The Middle Eastern monarch caught Downing Street off guard by arriving early on Friday, meaning he missed the customary handshake with the Prime Minister at the door of No 10.

Mr Sunak instead greeted him indoors before praising Jordan as “one of our most important allies in the region”, in front of assembled media at the start of their meeting.

The king told the new PM: “I’m here to say congratulations and see how we can chart a path forward with all the challenges that we have in our region.”

Downing Street said the two men discussed regional security and developments in Iraq and Syria, as well as the climate crisis and energy security, which has been jeopardised by Russia’s war in Ukraine.

They also “welcomed opportunities to deepen co-operation on trade and investment, including new solar and wind power projects and sustainable infrastructure development”.