AKIPRESS.COM - Back in early 2021, when India decided to send coveted doses of locally made Covid-19 vaccines to a select few partners in its neighbourhood, Mongolia, sandwiched between Russia and China, made the cut, The Straits Times reported.

The country received its first batch of vaccines – 150,000 Covishield doses – from India in February that year. The choice was strategic, cementing Mongolia’s importance in India’s Act East Policy.

New Delhi continues to build on this outreach that considers Mongolia a key “geopolitical card”, with Ulaanbaatar also cultivating India as a partner to cut down its over-reliance on its two large neighbours.

In September 2022, India’s Defence Minister Rajnath Singh became the first Indian Defence Minister to visit Mongolia. He inaugurated a Cyber Security Training Centre at the National Defence University in Ulaanbaatar, built with New Delhi’s assistance.

This is yet another calculated move to show support for Mongolia, which has faced cyber attacks, including ones allegedly from its neighbour.

Earlier in June, India sent four key Lord Buddha relics to be exhibited in Mongolia after a gap of 29 years, accentuating India’s shared heritage of Buddhism with the country that has long considered India as its “spiritual neighbour”.

Professor Sharad Kumar Soni of the Centre for Inner Asian Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University said India’s engagement with Mongolia is part of a wider strategy to develop trade and economic as well as geo-strategic ties with North-east Asia”.

“A forceful Indian presence in North-east Asia reveals to other powers, that New Delhi is serious about expanding itself strategically beyond South Asia,” he added.

In 2015, Narendra Modi visited Mongolia – the first such instance by an Indian Prime Minister – and announced a line of credit for the construction of a US$1.23 billion oil refinery, which is India’s single largest project of overseas aid.

Expected to be operational by 2025, it will be able to refine 1.5 million metric tons of crude oil per year (around 75 per cent of Mongolia’s energy consumption).

Mongolia depends significantly on Russia for its petroleum needs, with petroleum products accounting for more than 90 per cent of its imports. The country does not have the capacity to refine oil even though it has substantial oil reserves. This project remains crucial for Mongolia’s efforts to become more energy independent.

Mongolian Institute for Innovative Policies stated that a strategic partnership with India serves Mongolia’s strategy of “soft balancing” against its two large neighbours.

Mongolia has pursued a “Third Neighbour” policy since the 1990s, cultivating close ties with not only India, but also partners such as the United States, South Korea and the European Union.

Ganbold Dambajav, Mongolia’s Ambassador to India, said the policy “reaches out to all nations and unions that strongly advocate Mongolia’s democracy and development”.

He said “it is aimed at overcoming challenges, such as the lack of economic diversification, that arise from our unique geographical location of being sandwiched between two superpowers.”

India can play a critical role in helping to reinforce Mongolia’s energy security, train manpower in information technology, develop its healthcare facilities and offer quality education for its youth, he added.

Mongolia, on the other hand, can offer India natural resources such as coking coal, copper and rare earth elements.