Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi discussed with his Syrian counterpart Faisal Miqdad a number of issues, foremost of which is the return of refugees, in a meeting they brought together Thursday in New York on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly, according to a statement by the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs said - in a press statement - that during the meeting, they "discussed efforts to reach a political solution to the Syrian crisis that guarantees Syria's unity and cohesion, preserves its sovereignty, restores its security, stability and role, rids it of terrorism, and creates the necessary conditions for the voluntary return of refugees."

The statement quoted the Jordanian minister as stressing the need to activate efforts aimed at ending the Syrian crisis, and addressing all its consequences, "in a manner that achieves the aspirations of the Syrian people and preserves their security and interests," pointing to the importance of the Arab role in these efforts.

According to the statement, the two sides discussed bilateral relations between the two countries and cooperation that serves their common interests, and focused on issues of border security, combating drug smuggling, water, food security, refugees and other bilateral issues.

Over the past years, Jordan has witnessed hundreds of infiltration and smuggling attempts, especially from Syria and Iraq, as a result of the deteriorating security situation in the two neighboring countries.

Jordan has also hosted on its soil since the beginning of the crisis in its northern neighbor in 2011 about 1.3 million Syrians, about half of whom have refugee status, while the rest entered their country before the start of the revolution by virtue of lineage, intermarriage and trade.

Since the outbreak of the crisis in Syria, Jordan has been keen to adhere to a position of neutrality as much as possible, due to the geographical and demographic interdependence with its northern neighbor, but this did not avoid Damascus' constant accusations of supporting terrorism.

However, relations witnessed a remarkable normalization between the two countries in 2021, as many high-level meetings were held between the two sides.

Those meetings resulted in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad making a phone call with the King of Jordan in October of the same year, the first of its kind since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution in 2011.