The Foreign Minister of Mongolia, Luvsanvandan Bold, will visit India from January 15-17 to discuss means to strengthen bilateral relations.
During his visit, he will meet his Indian counterpart Salman Khurshid, President Pranab Mukherjee, and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
India and Mongolia share strong bilateral, cultural and defence ties. In May 2012, India and Mongolia signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the allocation of coking coal mines to India; the coal is expected to be utilized for the steel plant India proposes to set up in Mongolia, and the rest will be exported to India through Chinese ports. The Indian and Mongolian armies participated in a joint military exercise codenamed ‘Nomadic Elephant’ held in Belgaum in August 2012, which was aimed at sharpening their counter insurgency skills and enhancing training infrastructure for UN peacekeeping missions.
Despite strong ties, however, the India-Mongolia bilateral trade stood at a measly $46 million in 2011.
During the 5th Consultative Meeting between the Defence Ministries of the two countries, in November 2012, the two sides agreed to hold the next joint military training exercise in Mongolia. Indian military forces will also partake in the ‘Khaan Quest 2013,’ an annual multinational peacekeeping exercise conducted by Mongolia and the United States.
Among others, bilateral agreements have been signed, by both sides, on areas of bilateral defence cooperation, information technology, and education.