Defence Minister Rajnath Singh meets Mongolia’s top leadership to boost bilateral strategic ties

Ulaanbaatar, Sep. 6 (PTI): Rajnath Singh, the first Indian defence minister to visit Mongolia, met the top leadership of this country here on Tuesday and decided to fully implement the bilateral strategic partnership based on mutual trust, common interests, shared values of democracy and the rule of law.

Singh also inaugurated the Cyber Security Training Centre built with India’s assistance at the National Defence University in Ulaanbaatar and laid the foundation stone of the India-Mongolia Friendship School, to be constructed with Indian assistance.

On the first day of engagements here, Singh held bilateral talks with his Mongolian counterpart Lt Gen Saikhanbayar Gursed and also called on President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh and Chairman of State Great Khural (Parliament) G Zandanshatar.

Defence Minister Singh is on a five-day visit to Mongolia and Japan from Monday with an aim to expand India’s strategic and defence ties with the two countries in the backdrop of evolving regional security matrix and geo-political turmoil.

Singh’s visit to Mongolia from September 5 to 7 is the first-ever tour to the East Asian country by an Indian defence minister.

Excellent meeting with the President of Mongolia, H.E. U. Khurelsukh in Ulaanbaatar. Recalled my last meeting with him in 2018, when he was the Prime Minister of the country. We are fully committed to further deepening our multifaceted Strategic Partnership with Mongolia,” he said in a tweet.

Singh was accorded a ceremonial guard of honour at the Ministry of Defence in Ulaanbaatar. It was followed by delegation-level talks between him and his Mongolian counterpart.

They discussed effective and practical initiatives to further expand bilateral defence engagements and deliberated on regional and global issues of mutual interest, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

Both Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to fully implement the Strategic Partnership based on mutual trust and understanding, common interests and shared values of democracy and rule of law.

The two ministers also reiterated their resolve to reinvigorate the India-Mongolia Joint Working Group (JWG), which will meet in India later this year, it said.

Singh called on the President of Mongolia and the Commander-in-Chief of Armed Forces, Khurelsukh. During their meeting, the two leaders recalled their strong bonhomie and previous interaction in 2018 when together they laid the foundation stone for the ongoing Oil Refinery project being undertaken by assistance from India.

Singh also met the Chairman of State Great Khural of Mongolia Zandanshatar.

“Glad to interact with the Speaker of Mongolian Parliament, Mr. Zandanshatar. Complimented him on his consistent support to promote and expand our shared heritage of Buddhism,” Singh said in a tweet.

Singh inaugurated the Cyber Security Training Centre built with assistance from Government of India at National Defence University here. He was briefed about the facilities at the Centre by the officials. He also interacted with the personnel of the Mongolian Armed Forces being trained at the Centre.

Singh, along with Minister of Education and Science of Mongolia, laid the foundation stone of the India-Mongolia Friendship School, which is being established with the assistance from Government of India, the release said.

India established diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1955. Mongolia has declared India as a strategic partner and “spiritual neighbour.” In 2015, a “strategic partnership” was established between the two Asian democracies during visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Defence is an important element of bilateral engagements with Mongolia, the release said.

From Mongolia, defence minister Singh will travel to Japan for a two-day visit from September 8 to 9. The ‘2+2’ dialogue is set to take place on September 8. The dialogue is taking place over five months after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida visited India for the annual India-Japan summit.

Announcing Singh’s visit to Mongolia on Sunday, the defence ministry said it will further consolidate the defence cooperation and strategic partnership between the two countries.

“The two democracies have a common interest in fostering peace and prosperity in the entire region,” the ministry said in a statement.

It said India and Mongolia share a strategic partnership and defence is a key pillar of this partnership.

The bilateral defence engagements with Mongolia have been expanding over a period of time to include wide-ranging contacts between the two countries, including joint working group meetings, military-to-military exchanges and capacity building and training programmes.

During Prime Minister Modi’s visit in 2015, India announced a USD 1 billion line of credit to Mongolia for infrastructure development.

The two countries have initiated an annual military exercise called the ‘Nomadic Elephant’. The last two editions of the exercise were held at Ulaanbaatar (Mongolia) in September 2018 and in October 2019 in Himachal Pradesh.