India’s Exterior Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar just lately concluded his East Asia tour, which included Mongolia. The official go to emphasised Mongolia and India’s strategic partnership, rising bilateral financial engagements, and marked political will from each side to bolster cooperation, displaying a deeper connectivity between Eurasia and the Indo-Pacific.
Jaishankar’s official go to to Mongolia, from June 22 to 23, was a part of the 10-year strategic roadmap established in 2025 throughout Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa’s state go to to New Delhi.
Throughout Jaishankar’s go to to Ulaanbaatar, he met with Khurelsukh, Overseas Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh, and different senior authorities officers to strengthen bilateral cooperation in a number of areas, significantly, mining, expertise, and human sources.
In his press assertion, Jaishankar referred to Mongolia and India as “strategic companions” and “non secular siblings.” The Modi authorities’s strategic focus – which ranges from complete digital and bodily connectivity and protection partnerships to financial integration, promoted by cultural diplomacy – aligns with Mongolia’s financial and growth targets. Thus, India is and can proceed to be an essential third-neighbor companion to Mongolia.
On June 22, Jaishankar visited the flagship Mongol Oil Refinery in Dornogovi Province. India is presently setting up Mongolia’s first-ever greenfield oil refinery in Dornogovi. The challenge is financed by a $1.7 billion line of credit score. When accomplished, the Mongol Refinery would be the second largest main overseas funding challenge after Rio Tinto’s Oyu Tolgoi and has potential to vary Mongolia’s power sector.
Importantly, the oil refinery is among the largest investments being financed by Mongolia’s third neighbors outdoors of the mining sector. The profitable completion and operation of the refinery will function a significant supply of diversification for Mongolia’s restricted market. Therefore, the completion of the challenge is very anticipated by each Mongolia and India.
Nevertheless, mining stays an essential focus of Mongolia’s financial technique – and India can also be a potential third vacation spot for Mongolia’s coking coal trade. Given India’s rising want of coal for its technological development and metal trade, Jaishankar expressed curiosity in exploring logistical alternatives for Mongolia to export coking coal and different mining merchandise to India.
Along with financial engagements, Mongolia and India each make use of smooth energy mechanisms in navigating worldwide and regional affairs. Cultural diplomacy, non secular hyperlinks, and schooling have turn out to be the pillars of India-Mongolia cultural diplomacy.
Throughout Khurelsukh’s state go to to India in 2025, the 2 international locations agreed to digitize 1 million historic Buddhist manuscripts housed in Mongolia’s Gandantegchinlen Monastery, which Jaishankar personally visited throughout his official go to.
After his go to to the monastery, Jaishankar known as it “a logo of the particular and non secular bond between India and Mongolia.” He added that he was “delighted to witness the partnership challenge for digitization of 1 million Buddhist manuscripts in motion.”
India’s technological innovation and digital transformation have been an inspiration to Mongolia’s personal ambition to turn out to be a digital nation. India and Mongolia have deepened their digital and technological cooperation by signing a number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) in cybersecurity, IT, communications, and digital schooling.
Jaishankar’s official go to to Mongolia highlighted a number of essential overseas coverage growth for each India and Mongolia.
For India, East Asia has turn out to be more and more essential for expertise, commerce, provide chain resilience, and smooth energy. This creates a brand new window of alternative for Ulaanbaatar’s landlocked financial setting. Furthermore, India and Mongolia’s non-bloc method aligns with their financial and progress methods.
Simply days earlier than Jaishankar’s official go to, Mongolia hosted Khaan Quest, the annual multinational peacekeeping drill the place India has been an energetic participant since 2006. Mongolia, too, takes half in India’s Nomadic Elephant navy train, which develops counterterrorism capability. To raise Mongolia and India’s protection relations, in 2025, New Delhi established a protection attaché in Ulaanbaatar.
On the management stage, Mongolia and India each reveal the political will to bolster cooperation mechanisms. The chair of Mongolia’s State Nice Khural, Byambatsogt Sandag, obtained Jaishankar to strengthen cooperation in governance and legislative issues.
The Overseas Ministry of Mongolia summed up Jaishankar’s keep: “This go to is of nice significance in strengthening the ‘Strategic Partnership’ between the 2 international locations, enriching commerce and financial cooperation with new concepts and hyperlinks, and figuring out the course of future cooperation.” As Mongolia continues to hunt investments from third neighbors, India might be an more and more essential companion to Ulaanbaatar. Mongolia, too, has turn out to be an essential companion in New Delhi’s Act East Coverage.
Now the hope is for Mongolia to have steady governments that may efficiently implement massive initiatives which might be essential for the nation’s growth – just like the India-backed oil refinery.
