Mongolian connection
While our strategic community reacts anxiously to Beijing’s deepening ties with India’s neighbours, it devotes little attention to Delhi’s pro-active diplomacy in China’s periphery. Consider, for example, the sparse media coverage of President Pratibha Patil’s trip to Mongolia last week.
The first visit by an Indian president to Mongolia in a quarter of a century is not a diplomatic accident. It was part of a conscious effort to celebrate the deep civilisational and spiritual links between India and Mongolia. It was also about getting Indian business to join the economic boom under way in mineral-rich Mongolia. If neither of these themes was surprising, the agreement to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation signed during Patil’s visit is a significant element. The defence agreement enables a range of cooperation, including training, high-level military exchanges, and joint exercises.
Security cooperation with Mongolia adds a new dimension to India’s Look East policy — which, by geographic circumstance, involves building stronger ties with China’s neighbours. Although its initial focus was on economic cooperation, the strategic content of the policy has steadily expanded to include the cultivation of security partnerships in the Asia and the Pacific.
In recent years, India has stepped up its defence diplomacy with many East Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia. While most of these countries form Beijing’s maritime periphery, Mongolia is geographically different. Located in inner Asia, Mongolia is landlocked by its two great neighbours, Russia and China.
During the Cold War, Mongolia was a buffer that leaned towards the USSR. After the collapse of the USSR, it embarked on a dynamic policy of building multiple partnerships and raising its international profile. During the last two decades, Mongolia has worked hard to balance its two large neighbours — China and Russia — and reached out to the US, Europe and Japan. In its effort to reaffirm its national identity and preserve its autonomy, Mongolia has also begun to look at India.
The first visit by an Indian president to Mongolia in a quarter of a century is not a diplomatic accident. It was part of a conscious effort to celebrate the deep civilisational and spiritual links between India and Mongolia. It was also about getting Indian business to join the economic boom under way in mineral-rich Mongolia. If neither of these themes was surprising, the agreement to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation signed during Patil’s visit is a significant element. The defence agreement enables a range of cooperation, including training, high-level military exchanges, and joint exercises.
Security cooperation with Mongolia adds a new dimension to India’s Look East policy — which, by geographic circumstance, involves building stronger ties with China’s neighbours. Although its initial focus was on economic cooperation, the strategic content of the policy has steadily expanded to include the cultivation of security partnerships in the Asia and the Pacific.
In recent years, India has stepped up its defence diplomacy with many East Asian countries, including Japan, South Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore and Australia. While most of these countries form Beijing’s maritime periphery, Mongolia is geographically different. Located in inner Asia, Mongolia is landlocked by its two great neighbours, Russia and China.
During the Cold War, Mongolia was a buffer that leaned towards the USSR. After the collapse of the USSR, it embarked on a dynamic policy of building multiple partnerships and raising its international profile. During the last two decades, Mongolia has worked hard to balance its two large neighbours — China and Russia — and reached out to the US, Europe and Japan. In its effort to reaffirm its national identity and preserve its autonomy, Mongolia has also begun to look at India.
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