Sushma Swaraj arrives in Mongolia

Ulaanbataar, April 24 (IANS) Indian External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj arrived here from China on Tuesday in what is her first visit to Mongolia.

"First visit of an Indian External Affairs Minister to Mongolia in 42 years!" Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. 

"Reconnecting with our shared Buddhist heritage, EAM @SushmaSwaraj warmly received by Deputy Foreign Minister of Mongolia, B. Battsetseg on her arrival in sunny Ulaanbaatar," Kumar said.

During her visit, Sushma Swaraj will co-chair the sixth round of India-Mongolia Joint Consultative Committee (IMJCC) meeting with Mongolian Foreign Minister Damdin Tsogtbaatar, covering a range of issues, including political, strategic, economic, educational and cultural ties. The last meeting of IMJCC was held in New Delhi in 2016.

The Indian minister will also deliver the keynote address at the Kushok Bakula birth centenary celebrations in Ulaanbaatar commemorating the birth anniversary of Late Venerable Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, a highly revered Buddhist leader and monk from Ladakh, India, and a former Ambassador of India to Mongolia. 

Rinpoche, as the longest-serving Indian Ambassador to Mongolia, made seminal contribution to promotion of India-Mongolia ties, the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement.

Earlier on Tuesday, Sushma Swaraj attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation Foreign Ministers' meeting in Beijing.