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‘Nomadic Elephant’: India-Mongolia joint drill begins in Meghalaya

Exercise ‘Nomadic Elephant’ is an annual training event with Mongolia which is conducted alternatively in Mongolia and India…reports Asian Lite News

The 16th edition of Joint Military Exercise ‘Nomadic Elephant’ between armies of India and Mongolia will be conducted in Meghalaya’s Umroi from July 3-16, the Indian Army stated on Tuesday.

Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (Army) said that the exercise set to be conducted in Meghalaya aims to enhance interoperability between two armies in carrying out semi-conventional operations in semi-urban/mountainous terrain.

“Exercise #NomadicElephant The 16th edition of Joint Military Exercise #NomadicElephant between #IndianArmy & #MongolianArmy will be conducted in Umroi, #Meghalaya from 03 Jul to 16 Jul 2024. The exercise aims to enhance interoperability between both Armies in conducting semi conventional operations in semi urban/ mountainous terrain under the #UN mandate,” Additional Directorate General of Public Information, IHQ of MoD (Army) posted on X.

Exercise ‘Nomadic Elephant’ is an annual training event with Mongolia which is conducted alternatively in Mongolia and India. The 15th edition of the Joint Military Exercise ‘Nomadic Elephant’ was conducted in Mongolia’s Ulaanbaatar, according to the Ministry of Defence’s earlier press release. Soldiers of the Mongolian Armed Forces Unit 084 and Indian Army soldiers from the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry Regiment had participated in the exercise in 2023.

In May this year, the 12th Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between the Defence Ministries of India and Mongolia took place in Ulaanbaatar on May 16-17 and reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and identified means to further enhance cooperation between the two countries.

The meeting was co-chaired by the Joint Secretary (International Cooperation), Ministry of Defence Amitabh Prasad and State Secretary of Ministry of Defence, Mongolia Brigadier General Gankhuyag Davagdorj.

India’s Ambassador to Mongolia Atul Malhari Gotsurve also attended the meeting. During the JWG, both sides expressed satisfaction at the ongoing defence cooperation between the two countries.

“They reviewed the progress on various bilateral defence cooperation initiatives and identified means to further enhance cooperation in these areas, articulating steps in this direction,” the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

Moreover, both sides also exchanged views on the current geopolitical situation. Joint Secretary Amitabh Prasad highlighted the potential of the capacity and capability of the Indian defence industry and looked forward to a fruitful partnership with the Armed Forces of Mongolia.

The Mongolian side exuded confidence in the capacity and capability of the Indian industry. Both sides also acknowledged the growing ties between the two countries. (ANI)

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Pope lauds Mongolia’s tradition of religious freedom

Francis, however, noted the need to combat corruption, an apparent reference to a scandal over Mongolia’s trade with China over the alleged theft of 385,000 tons of coal…reports Asian Lite News

Pope Francis praised Mongolia’s tradition of religious freedom dating to the times of its founder, Genghis Khan, as he opened the first-ever papal visit to the Asian nation with a plea for peace and an end to the “insidious threat of corruption.”

Francis met with President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh inside a traditional Mongolian ger, or round yurt, set up inside the state palace, and wrote a message in the guest book that he was visiting Mongolia, “a country young and ancient, modern and rich of tradition,” as a pilgrim of peace.

“May the great clear sky, which embraces the Mongolian land, illuminate new paths of fraternity,” he wrote.

Francis is visiting Mongolia to minister to its young Catholic community of 1,450 and make a diplomatic foray into a region where the Holy See has long had troubled relations, with Russia to the north and China to the south.

While Christianity has been present in the region for hundreds of years, the Catholic Church has only had a sanctioned presence in Mongolia since 1992, after the country abandoned its Soviet-allied communist government and enshrined religious freedom in its constitution.

In his remarks, Francis praised Mongolia’s tradition of religious liberty, noting that such tolerance existed even during the period of the Mongol Empire’s vast expansion over much of the world. At its height, the empire stretched as far west as Hungary and remains the largest contiguous land empire in world history.

“The fact that the empire could embrace such distant and varied lands over the centuries bears witness to the remarkable ability of your ancestors to acknowledge the outstanding qualities of the peoples present in its immense territory and to put those qualities at the service of a common development,” Francis said. “This model should be valued and re-proposed in our own day.”

Francis, however, noted the need to combat corruption, an apparent reference to a scandal over Mongolia’s trade with China over the alleged theft of 385,000 tons of coal. In December, hundreds of people braved freezing cold temperatures in the capital to protest the scandal.

Francis warned about the threat represented by today’s consumerist spirit and said religions can help guard against an “individualistic mindset that cares little for others and for sound, established traditions.”

“At the same time, they also represent a safeguard against the insidious threat of corruption, which effectively represents a serious menace to the development of any human community; corruption is the fruit of a utilitarian and unscrupulous mentality that has impoverished whole countries,” he said. “It is a sign of a vision that fails to look up to the sky and flees the vast horizons of fraternity, becoming instead self-enclosed and concerned with its own interests alone.”

The Mongolian government has declared 2023 to be an “anti-corruption year” and says it is carrying out a five-part plan based on Transparency International, the global anti-graft watchdog that ranked Mongolia 116th last year in its corruption perceptions index.

Later Saturday, Francis was to meet with the priests and missionaries who tend to the country’s tiny Catholic community at the capital’s St. Peter and Paul Cathedral.

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Milling visits Mongolia to boost collaboration in trade

Minister for Asia, Amanda Milling, said, “I was delighted to make my first visit to Mongolia as UK Minister for Asia…reports Asian Lite News

During her visit the Minister focused on areas of UK-Mongolia bilateral relations such as trade and investment, foreign policy issues, climate change and education.

Minister Milling also co-chaired the UK-Mongolia Roundtable Dialogue with the Mongolian Minister of Education and Science and the Foreign Policy Dialogue with the Deputy Foreign Minister. These covered a range of bilateral and international issues.

Minister Milling also met other Ministers and senior officials during her visit. She raised global issues, in particular the importance of international condemnation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The Minister welcomed Mongolian humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and urged Mongolia to join the international community’s call to uphold the UN charter in Ukraine and press for an end to the violence. The Minister also discussed continued provocations by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and sought Mongolia’s views on international engagement with DPRK and deterring provocations.

Minister for Asia, Amanda Milling, said, “I was delighted to make my first visit to Mongolia as UK Minister for Asia. I held productive discussions on a range of bilateral and international issues and look forward to strengthening our relationship with Mongolia even further. Seeing the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine and the transformational impact of UK investment was a particular highlight.”

The Minister also had the opportunity to pay a visit to the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in the South Gobi. It is managed by the UK/Australian company Rio Tinto and is the largest investment by a UK company in Mongolia. The mine is the largest employer in Mongolia and a significant contributor to Mongolia’s development. The Minister was able to see the new underground phase and operations across the mine. It is set to be the 3rd largest copper mine in the world when fully on-stream, with amazing potential for UK investment and Mongolia.

ALSO READ-‘China inflicting cultural genocide in Mongolia’

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‘China inflicting cultural genocide in Mongolia’

According to the report, the suspicion of the Mongolian people that China’s border closure decision is linked to its desire to control Mongolia’s Buddhist affairs….reports Asian Lite News

China is inflicting “cultural genocide” not only in Xinjiang and Tibet but also in Mongolia, said a media report on Friday.

In its report, The HK Post said China’s strategy of using economic tools to pressurise other parties to accept its terms is well known. A recent instance is Mongolia.

The report said that Chinese authorities have of late restricted the movement of transport across the Mongolia-China border, citing increasing COVID-19 cases in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR).

Consequently, Mongolia is experiencing supply chain disruption, shortage of goods and high inflation, substantially impacting its exports and income.

There is a general feeling among Mongolians that COVID-19 is only a pretext for China to enforce strict border closure, the real reason is that China is unhappy that the issue of declaration of the 10th Jetsundamba (JD) is gaining traction in Mongolia and also about the recent visit of the Speaker of Mongolian Parliament, G. Zandanshatar, to India from November 29, 2021 to December 05, 2021, the report explained.

The 10th JD is believed to be a child presently living in Mongolia but holding US citizenship. During a meeting of the Buddhist monks community held on December 17, 2021 in Ulaanbaatar, it was decided that the declaration about the 10th JD be made without any further delay.

Khamba Nomun Han, the head of the selection committee for the 10th JD, would visit India in January 2022 to discuss the matter with the Dalai Lama. China has, meanwhile, indicated that it would recognise the child as the 10th JD only if he was not recognized by the Dalai Lama and the Mongolian government sent him to study in China. Mongolia fears that if it antagonized China, the child may face the same fate as the 11th Panchen Lama, The HK Post reported.

According to the report, the suspicion of the Mongolian people that China’s border closure decision is linked to its desire to control Mongolia’s Buddhist affairs.

In order to highlight Chinese atrocities, Mongolian activists in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region (IMAR) have created a social media account ‘New World Wechat Group.’ Remarkably, Chinese authorities had earlier blocked all social media websites in IMAR to suppress any opposition to the promotion of the Chinese language in IMAR, the report said.

Last year, on December 10, Mongolian activists in the IMAR organized a protest march in Ulaanbaatar, Tokyo, New York and other places to mark the Human Rights Day in which slogans such as ‘Free Southern Mongolia’, ‘China – Stop Human Rights Violation’, ‘Boycott Beijing Olympics’ and others were raised.

In Tokyo, activists from the IMAR, Tibet, Xinjiang, Taiwan, Hong Kong and others held a protest rally against the human rights violation in China. In New York, members of the Inner Mongolian Human Rights Information Centre also organized protests against the Chinese government, The HK Post reported.

Meanwhile, the Japan-based Southern Mongolia World Congress (SMWC) has prepared a document regarding ‘Record of Genocide in Inner Mongolia during the Cultural Revolution in China’.

“It seems China is inflicting ‘cultural genocide’ not only in Xinjiang and Tibet but also in Mongolia now. Mongolian groups should unite and work together with other minority groups such as Uyghur, Tibetans to strengthen their fight against Chinese interference in the cultural domain of respective communities,” the report added. (ANI)

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