Home Affairs Minister Rajnath Singh will visit Mongolia soon, with India drawing up a plan to step up bilateral ties across sectors following the visit of External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj to Ulaanbaatar in the last week of April, officials familiar with the developments said.

Swaraj’s visit was the first visit by an Indian foreign minister to Mongolia in 42 years. Prime Minister Modi visited Mongolia in 2015 and a plan for a comprehensive partnership was in the works since then, the officials indicated.

“The visit of PM Modi in May 2015 to Mongolia saw the two countries raising the partnership to a strategic level. Now Ulaanbaatar and New Delhi would be further deepening the ties across sectors,” said a government official who asked not to be named.

According to the agreed minutes of India-Mongolia joint committee, which Swaraj co-chaired on April 25, the two countries have agreed to promote the links between ministries and agencies from both sides, including closer ties between their national security councils.

The two countries also decided to step up cooperation in the mineral exploration sector and to speed up the plans to set up an oil refinery in Mongolia with an Indian credit line of USD 1 billion. The two sides also agreed to explore the possibility of direct air flights and cooperation in the fields of telecommunications, education and health.