India has invited Mongolia’s new President, Khaltmaa Battulga, to visit Delhi, just days after he won the election.

Mongolia’s security and cultural relations with India are witnessing a steady growth, as became evident when the resource-rich landlocked country reached out to India.

India on its part is keen to expand its presence in Mongolia. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who visited Ulaanbaatar in 2015, invited Kh.Battulga for a visit soon after the results of the presidential election were announced earlier this month. Then President, Pranab Mukherjee, sent him a message saying that India and Mongolia shared a belief in democracy. 

H.E. Suresh Babu, India’s envoy to Mongolia, was among the first ambassadors to call on the new President, according to people aware of the matter. President Battluga urged Ambassador Babu to convey to the Indian PM his proposal for opening an Indian Institute of Technology in Ulaanbaatar. An India-Mongolia joint school of information technology will also be set up in that country. The Modi government had extended a line of credit of $1 billion to Mongolia. 

Kh.Battulga , a Russophile, wants Mongolia to have partners in other continents. Despite Mongolia’s natural resources wealth, mismanagement of the economy in recent years has led to deflation and a $5.5 billion IMF bailout package. 

India and Mongolia have seen a growing defence partnership. A civil nuclear deal was concluded in 2009. The India-Mongolia Joint Working Group for defence cooperation meets annually and India contributes to training of Mongolian military officers.