Ulaanbaatar: An Indian delegation led by Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar concluded its five-day visit to Mongolia on June 29, 2024, after observing the process of elections in the strategically-located country. Representatives from 40 countries were invited by the General Election Committee of Mongolia as international observers for the 2024 general elections of the Great Khural of Mongolia.

The delegation from the Election Commission of India, along with the Indian Ambassador to the country, Atul Malhari Gotsurve, also met P. Delgernaran, Election Commissioner of Mongolia, at the headquarters of the General Election Committee, as both sides discussed various issues of mutual cooperation.

The head of the General Election Committee thanked the delegates who came to observe the regular elections and emphasized that the electoral bodies of the two countries exchange experience and cooperate. “I went to the polling station to observe the regular elections of the Great Khural of Mongolia. The process is very orderly, clear, and understandable. It is important that representatives of political parties and civil society organizations observe and supervise,” CEC Kumar was quoted as saying in a statement released by the Mongolian poll panel.

India-Mongolia relationship has continued to scale new heights ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s historic trip to the country in 2015. In 2023, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla visited Ulaanbaatar on a three-day visit at the invitation of his counterpart Gombojavyn Zandanshatar, Chairman of the State Great Khural of Mongolia.

The first oil refinery in Mongolia is being built via India’s single-largest project of assistance under a Line of Credit (LoC) of $1.236 billion. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Kiren Rijiju, then a Law Minister, also visited the strategic neighbour in 2022.