India, Mongolia held 7th meeting of joint committee on cooperation to focus on bilateral ties

India-Mongolia 7th Meeting of Joint Committee on Cooperation was held on November 3, 2020, in a virtual mode. The meeting was between the Minister of External Affairs, S Jaishankar, and L Oyun-Erdene, Chief Cabinet Secretary of Mongolia.

During the virtual meet, the ministers of both nations held comprehensive discussions on various issues covering bilateral cooperation. As per the release by External Affairs Ministry, the ministers, during the meeting, also recalled PM Modi’s visit to Mongolia in May 2015 and President of Mongolia, Khaltmaagiin  Battulga’s visit to India in September 2019.

Joined Mongolian Chief Cabinet Secretary L.Oyun-Erdene fr co-chairing 7th Joint Committee on Cooperation.Reviewd progress on our oil refinery project.Also discussed cooperat’n in steel,ICT,solar,education&defence. Confident we will achieve the vision of cooperat’n set out in 2015 pic.twitter.com/24ctvLsIjE

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 3, 2020

7th meeting of India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation: Highlights

• Both the ministers expressed satisfaction over the arrangement of special flights between the two nations.

• They also expressed views on the cooperation in combating COVID-19, which included procurement of vaccines by Mongolia from India.

• The coordination between India and Mongolia in regional and multilateral forums was also evaluated during the meeting. They also agreed to continue to support each other in relevant international forums.

• India also welcomed the decision by Mongolia to join the International Solar Alliance- ISA and agreed that the initiative will promote the use of clean energy in both the nations and the world.

• It was also agreed to establish an AYUSH information cell in Ulaanbaatar as early as possible.

• India also appreciated Mongolia for ‘a visa on arrival’ status for the Indian citizens.

65th Anniversary of India-Mongolia’s Diplomatic relations:

The ministers of India and Mongolia during the virtual meet acknowledged that 2002 marks the 65th anniversary of the diplomatic relations established between both the countries. The ministers also noted with satisfaction that the relations between the two countries have grown stronger and deeper, especially in the last few years. Both the countries have agreed to hold the next meeting in 2021.

Both India and Mongolia have also jointly released a commemorative stamp which has been issued by Mongol Post to mark this occasion. 

Pleased to jointly release the commemorative stamp issued by Mongol Post to mark 65 years of our diplomatic relations. pic.twitter.com/KaqhRYqJfP

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) December 3, 2020

Ongoing developmental partnership projects between India and Mongolia:

The progress of the ongoing developmental projects was also reviewed. It includes the Oil Refinery project worth USD 1.236 billion Line of Credit and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Centre of Excellence in ICT and outsourcing of USD 20 million.