he Indian President, Mrs.
Pratibha Patil, who is in Ulaanbaatar on a three-day visit, has said her talks
with President Ts. Elbegdorj were held in a warm, friendly and cordial
atmosphere. “My visit seeks to strengthen our relationship, building upon the
momentum generated by the visit of President Elbegdorj to India in September
2009, when our ties were expanded to a comprehensive partnership,” she said. Mrs.
Patil is the first Indian President to visit Mongolia in 23 years.

After half an hour of restricted
talks with Mongolian leaders, Mrs. Patil said, “My discussions with President
Elbegdorj today were wide-ranging and covered the entire gamut of our bilateral
relations as well regional and global issues of mutual interest. We have signed an agreement of cooperation
between the Planning Commission of India and its Mongolian counterpart.
There is considerable expertise on plan formulation and implementation in
India. We look forward to sharing our experience in this area with Mongolia.”

Among the bilateral
agreements signed on Thursday were one on defense cooperation, and another on India extending a USD20-million Line of Credit for a joint IT,
education and outsourcing centre to be set up here. India and Mongolia
also signed two pacts on media
exchanges and cooperation between their planning commissions in the
presence of. Referring to the defense cooperation agreement , Mrs. Patil said, “…India
is willing and ready to expand collaboration in this sphere.”

The two countries also
discussed ways to further cooperation
in the peaceful use of radioactive minerals and nuclear energy. “We also agreed to explore the possibilities
of improving air connectivity between our two countries so as to enhance
contacts between our peoples, including through tourism,” Mrs. Patil said.

With an MoU on media
exchanges signed between the two governments, “We can now hope to see more
media persons from Mongolia in India. We will also send more Indian journalists
here,” she said.

The agreements were signed
in the grand hall at Government House. Earlier yesterday, the Indian President
was given a ceremonial welcome at Sukhbaatar Square. After taking the salute,
she said “Bayarlalaa,” a gesture much appreciated by the people present at the
event, including politicians and officials.

Mrs. Patil referred to the
planned revival of Nalanda University as a regional seat of learning and
excellence, in particular of Buddhist studies, and expressed the hope this
would lead to restoration of India-Mongolia contacts that had flourished
centuries ago. “It is encouraging that we also share other values such as
democracy, rule of law and upholding the rights of the individual. This forms
the bedrock of our bilateral cooperation,” Mrs. Patil said.

India will also upgrade
and modernize the Rajiv Gandhi Art and Production School as well as the Atal
Bihari Vajpayee Center of Excellence in Information and Communication
Technology here. “We will complete this work soon. Further, we have agreed to
work together on a joint India-Mongolia School,” Mrs. Patil said.

India and Mongolia are
good trading partners. India exports pharma products, veterinary medicines,
automobiles and their parts to this country and the bilateral trade has touched
$16.9 million.

India has also decided to
increase the number of slots available to Mongolia under the Indian Technical
Education Cooperation (ITEC) Programme to 150. “The number of Indian Council of
Cultural Relations (ICCR) scholarships available to Mongolia will be increased
to 50. India will assist in human resource development and capacity building
efforts of Mongolia,” Mrs. Patil said.

Extending her support to
Mongolia “in any way”, she thanked the country for backing India’s bid for the
permanent membership of an expanded United Nations Security Council.