India, Mongolia decide to elevate ties to strategic partnership

India and Mongolia have decided to elevate their ties to the level of Strategic partnership.
In this regard a joint statement was issued after the delegation level talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mongolian counterpart Saikhanbileg in Ulaan Baatar.
It should be noted that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is first Indian PM to Mongolia.
Apart from this India and Mongolia signed 13 agreements to further strengthen bilateral ties in different sectors. They are

• Revised Air Services Agreement- To update the previous arrangements of international air services between India and Mongolia under the Convention on International Civil Aviation.
• Treaty on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons- Indian prisoners convicted in Mongolia will be transferred to India to serve the remaining part of their sentence. Similarly Mongolian citizens convicted in India can be sent to their home country to serve their sentence.
• Agreement on Cooperation in the Field of Animal Health and Dairy- It envisages joint cooperation activities in the areas of dairy, modern technical application, quality control and animal disease control measures, marketing in dairy etc.
• MoU on Cooperation in the Field of Traditional Systems of Medicine and Homeopathy.
• MoU on Establishment of Cyber Security Training Centre in the Ministry of Defence of Mongolia.
• MoU on Establishment of India-Mongolia JointFriendshipSchool in Mongolia.
• Programme on Cooperation in the field ofCulture for the Years 2015-2018.
• MoU for Cooperation between the India’s National Security Council and the National Security Council of Mongolia.
• MoU on Cooperation between the Union Ministry of External Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia– To focus on all aspects of the bilateral relationship between both nations in the areas of political, commercial, economic, technical scientific and cultural cooperation as per Protocol on Cooperation signed between both parties on September 17, 1996.
• MoU on Renewable Energy- Both nations will focus on development of new and renewable energy technologies, viz. Solar Energy and Wind Energy.
• MoU on enhancing cooperation between the border guarding forces.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced a line of credit of US $ one billion to support expansion of Mongolia’s economic capacity and infrastructure.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2015