Over the previous week, President Kh.Battulga met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Republic of India. The meeting comes as a continuation of cooperation established when Mr. Modi visited Mongolia in 2015, when the two sides agreed to coordinate on establishment of an oil refinery in Mongolia. Construction of the primary infrastructure connected with the refinery, including railway access and roads have been completed. The Indian government has recently divided to release an additional USD $236 million in funding for the refinery, which will mean continued business for Mongolian businesses and contractors.

Pursuant to the agreements between the two countries, engineers and technicians necessary to man the new refinery will receive training in India through Scholarship from the Indian Government under the existing Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) program.

Mongolia and India reaffirmed their Strategic Partnership nations sharing civilizational, historic, spiritual and cultural connections, in additional to shares principles of democracy and basic freedom of individuals.  President Kh.Battulga emphasized the continued importance of sustaining and strengthening relations with India, which Mongolia considers to be a valuable “Third Neighbor”.

Both sides Mongolia expressed interest in actively participating in the evolving regional integration in the Indo-Pacific region, including the East Asia Summit. Both sides agreed that a free, open, prosperous and inclusive Indo-Pacific region serves the long-term interests of all countries in the region and of the world at large.

The two sides recognized further potential for development of bilateral trade and investment between Mongolia and India, particularly in areas of agricultural exports, dairy products and animal husbandry, mining, information technology, and pharmaceuticals, and signed an agreement to increase cooperation in this area.

After the meeting at the Presidential Residence in New Delhi, the Presidents of Mongolia and India participated in a signing ceremony in connection with further cooperation between Mongolia and India. These new agreements include: