PM Narendra Modi meets Mongolian President Battulga in Russia

Vladivostok: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday met President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga and the two leaders discussed a range of issues of bilateral interest, including strengthening of cultural, spiritual and people-to-people ties.

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Prime Minister Modi met the Mongolian president on the sidelines of the fifth meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) held here in the Russian Far East Region.

"Reconnecting with a spiritual and historic friend. PM Narendra Modi had a good meeting with President @BattulgaKh on the margins of the EEF 2019. Development partnership and other areas of bilateral cooperation were discussed," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.

The EEF is being held in Russia's Far East port city of Vladivostok on September 4-6.

Briefing the media about the Prime Minister's meeting, Foreign Secretary Vijay Gokhale said the two leaders had a "warm conversation".

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The Mongolian President is slated to come on a state visit to India later this month. Number of projects were discussed particularly the assistance India is giving to build a major oil refinery in Mongolia to meet its energy needs through a line of credit," he said.

"A number of people-to-people issues were discussed including culture, the spiritual connection. The President specially said he was looking forward to his visit to Bodh Gaya in Bihar, in addition to Delhi as well as to Bangalore," Gokhale said.

A discussion on how to mitigate the level of pollution in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, also took place, he said.

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Modi arrived in Russia on Wednesday to participate in the 20th India-Russia annual summit and the fifth meeting of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF). On his arrival, Modi received a guard of honour at Vladivostok International Airport.

The forum focuses on development of business and investment opportunities in the Russian Far East Region, and presents enormous potential for developing close and mutually beneficial cooperation between India and Russia in the region.