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Throughout the last two millennia, India and Mongolia have had several encounters. Throughout the 20th century, Mongolia and China have maintained close ties based on their common history and cultural heritage. On December 24, 1955, India and Mongolia established diplomatic ties. India became the first country outside the Socialist Bloc to establish diplomatic ties with Mongolia. India backed Mongolia’s membership in the UN and NAM.
Defence cooperation between India and Mongolia is another area of cooperation. A joint working group for defence cooperation between India and Mongolia meets every year. Every year, the ‘Nomadic Elephant’ joint India-Mongolia exercise takes place. India frequently participates in the multinational exercise “Khan Quest.” India also supports several regular training programmes for Mongolian officers.
Emerging Dimensions of India-Mongolia Relations
In Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, plans were finalised for an Atal Bihari Vajpayee Centre of Excellence in Information Technology and Communication Technology. Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for the IT Centre on May 17, 2015. Nambaryn Enkhbayar laid the foundation stone for a Buddhist monastery maintained by Mongolian monks in the historic city of Bodh Gaya.
Indo-Mongolian ties have been improving since President Enkhbayar of Mongolia visited India and pledged to take the relationship to a “new level of collaboration.”
India offers technical and economic assistance to Mongolia in higher learning, agriculture, ICT, and human resource development.
Bhabhatron equipment was given to the National Cancer Centre in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia’s capital. A $1 billion line of credit was also granted to Mongolia, during PM Modi’s May 2015 visit, for numerous purposes, including infrastructure development.
A few of the WHO’s delays were alleviated in early 2021 when India ramped up the delivery of the COVID-19 vaccine to several nations, including Mongolia. Mongolia was one of the first 25 nations to get the COVID-19 vaccine from India, receiving 13 boxes (150 thousand doses). India’s ambassador to Mongolia, M. P. Singh, spoke at the donation ceremony on Mongolia’s significance to India’s Act East strategy as a “spiritual neighbour.”
Why Are India and Mongolia Strategic Partners?
In addition to their lengthy land border with China, both countries’ ties with it have historically been strained. They are fearful of China’s expanding economic and military might.
Because of their common worry about China exerting demographic and economic pressure on the world, the Soviet Union and Russia are now adopting the same rationale to explain their foreign policies against one another. Growing Chinese investment in important South Asian infrastructure projects tends to worry India, particularly economic corridors across its disputed regions with Pakistan and Chinese marine expansion into the Indian Ocean.
Both India and Mongolia’s “soft balancing” strategies against their two nuclear-armed neighbours, China and the Russian Federation, benefit from a strategic collaboration. At multilateral venues (such as the United Nations, ASEAN Regional Forum, or Asia–Europe Summit) as well as bilaterally (India–Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation), this strategic alliance aims to develop bilateral cooperation in the areas of security and defence.
When it comes to economic collaboration, relations between the two countries are far less cordial than when it comes to politics. Even the volume and value of bilateral commerce have decreased in recent years.
It has been difficult for Indian businesses to go into Mongolia, mostly because of its lack of transportation infrastructure. Mongolia and India inked an Air Service Agreement to increase the flow of passengers, tourism, and trade between the two countries.
Not all flights have been formally approved for direct service. Mongolian pilgrims attending the Dalai Lama’s public lectures have only been permitted to fly in on a private jet since 2011. Business travellers can take a flight through transit hubs (such as Hong Kong, Beijing, or Seoul), although these routes are less convenient for them.
Conclusion
The recent pandemic hasn’t deterred the two countries from working together. The Mongolians named it the Defence Consultative Talk, but on April 16, 2021, the two Mongolian defence ministries decided to pursue a cooperation agenda, including peacekeeping exercises and military exchanges. Mongolian authorities authorised 60 Indian residents to work on the oil refinery project later in the month despite many nations refusing to accept workers from India during the most acute COVID pandemic scenario in India. The development of Mongolia’s oil refinery is of critical importance to the country.
It’s no secret that the party’s leadership is rallying around a plan to reduce Russia’s fuel reliance in both the 2020 parliamentary election and the June presidential election. Modi’s geopolitical strategy also includes the project’s smooth execution.
