On December 3, 2020 The 7th meeting of the India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation 2020 was held virtually. It was chaired jointly by Dr. S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, India & Mr. L. Oyun-Erdene, Minister and Chief Cabinet Secretary, Government of Mongolia. Both Countries acknowledged the 65th Anniversary of Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between the two countries.
65th Anniversary:
i.On this occasion, Mongolia released a special stamp issued by Mongolia Post.
ii.India handed over 25 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur, a Buddhist canonical text in 108 volumes printed by India under the National Mission for Manuscripts.
iii.Mongolian Kanjur was edited by Prof. Lokesh Chandra & team, which is taken from the collection of Raghu Vira
iv.‘Kanjur’ in Mongolian language means ‘Concise Order’ – works of Lord Buddha. It is one of the most important religious texts in Mongolia.
v.The language of Kanjur is Classical Mongolian (totally 108 volumes).
Key Points:
i.India welcomed Mongolia’s decision to join the International Solar Alliance, initiated by France and India in 2015.
ii.Both sides agreed to establish an AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) Information Cell in Ulaanbaatar at an early possible date.
iii.India welcomed Mongolia’s decision to accord ‘visa on arrival’ status for Indian citizens.
iv.The two sides exchanged views on combating COVID-19, procurement of COVID-19 vaccine from India by Mongolia.
v.The two sides also reviewed the progress of ongoing developmental partnership projects such as the USD 1.236 Billion Line of Credit Oil Refinery Project, USD 20 Million Atal Bihari Vajpayee Centre of Excellence in ICT (Information & Communications Technology) and Outsourcing at Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
Next Meeting:
Both Countries agreed to hold the next meeting of India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation in 2021.
Recent Related News:
i.July 10, 2020, Under the National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM), The Ministry of Culture has taken up the project of re-printing 108 volumes of Mongolian Kanjur.
About Mongolia:
President – Khaltmaagiin Battulga
Capital – Ulaanbaatar
Currency – Togrog or Tugrik (MNT)
