Sunday, 13 Oct, 2024
By: Yash Gupte
This visit is being considered as a strategic one because this is the first time in the history of India-Mongolia bilateral cooperation that an Indian defense minister is on a visit to Mongolia and is expected to further consolidate the defense cooperation and strategic partnership between the two countries.
In a first, Raksha Mantri Rajnath Singh is on a 3 day official visit to Mongolia from September 5th to 7th. This visit is being considered as a strategic one because this is the first time in the history of India-Mongolia bilateral cooperation that an Indian defense minister is on a visit to Mongolia and is expected to further consolidate the defense cooperation and strategic partnership between the two countries.
According to the Ministry of Defense, during his tour, Rajnath Singh is expected to meet Mongolia's Minister of Defense, Lt Gen. Saikhanbayar, for bilateral talks. He is scheduled o hold discussions with Mongolia's President, H.E. Mr. U. Khurelsukh, and the Chairman of Mongolia's State Great Khural, H.E. Mr. G Zandanshatar. India and Mongolia have a strategic partnership, with defense being a vital pillar. Over time, bilateral defense engagements with Mongolia have grown to cover a wide range of contacts between the two countries, including Joint Working Group meetings, military-to-military exchanges, high-level visits, capacity-building and training programmes, and bilateral exercises. During the bilateral dialogue, the two Defense Ministers would review bilateral defense cooperation between India and Mongolia and look into new initiatives to deepen bilateral ties.
India, the first country outside of the former Soviet bloc to establish diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1955, has elevated relations to a strategic partnership. Mongolia witnessed the first ever visit by the Prime Minister of India (a part of India’s Act East policy) in 2015. New Delhi had established diplomatic relations with Mongolia in 1955, and has elevated relations to a strategic partnership. Mongolia hosted India's Prime Minister for the first time in 2015 as part of the country's Act East programme. Since 2004, India and Mongolia have regularly held the Nomadic Elephant series of army exercises at different locations. Mongolia has openly stated its support for India's membership of the permanent seat of the expanded United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
During the visit of then-Minister of Commerce Pranab Mukherjee in 1994, two Memorandums of Understanding pertaining to the establishment of a Joint Trade Sub-Committee and Cooperation between the Planning Commission of India and the National Development Board of Mongolia were signed. This laid the foundation of economic partnership with Mongolia. Since then, the trade relations between the two countries have been strengthening and also there has been a gradual increase in the bilateral trade between New Delhi and Ulaanbaatar. Main items of exports to Mongolia include sugar, medicines, mining machinery and auto parts, etc where as imports from Mongolia include raw cashmere wool.
Source: Mongolian National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MNCCI)
Though the bilateral relations and trade relations between India and Mongolia have strengthened over the years, there have been a lot of ups and downs in the volume of trade. The bilateral trade was about $35 million in 2013 but it dropped to less than half in 2014. India’s exports to Mongolia stood at $51.6 million in 2018 but dropped to $37.1 million in 2019 and further to $34.6 million in 2020. This was due to the covid-19 pandemic in 2020. Looking at India’s imports from Mongolia, Indian imports have remained very low which means that India has a trade surplus with Mongolia. In 2021, the Indian imports from Mongolia were the lowest at $0.275 million. The bilateral trade between the two strategic partners in 2021 was at an all time high of $63.8 million. Both the countries have a long way to enhance their partnership and cooperation in different sectors.
