July 22, 2019
India and Mongolia celebrated the 60th year of bilateral diplomatic ties last June
Through the agreement, India and Mongolia will share and promote best practices
The deal contains enabling provisions for cooperation in other areas of cooperation
Growing India-Mongolia exchange is part of India’s ongoing outreach in Central Asia
In a move to take forward the cooperation between India and Mongolia, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) and the Civil Service Council of Mongolia recently signed a preliminary agreement in Delhi. India and Mongolia have shared a long-standing diplomatic relationship that got elevated to a strategic partnership in 2015 during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
The two countries celebrated the 60th year of bilateral diplomatic ties last June, when then-Home Minister, Rajnath Singh, paid an official visit to Mongolia. During the visit, Mr Singh called on the President of Mongolia, K. Battulga and held talks with Prime Minister, U. Khurelsukh, and Minister of Justice and Home Affairs, Ts. Nyamdorj. The talks focused on wide-ranging issues of bilateral interest, including cooperation in disaster risk reduction, border management, and capacity building programmes in the security domain.
Through the latest agreement, India continues its effort to assist Mongolia in the space of civil services, and aims to share and promote best practices through bilateral exchanges. The areas of cooperation include exchange of experience in information technology in examination processes, modern approach to public service reforms, exchange of resource persons for conducting specialised training programs, seminars or workshops in areas of mutual interest. The agreement also contains provisions for cooperation in other areas as mutually decided in due course.
The Chairman, Union Public Service Commission, Arvind Saxena, and Chairman, Civil Service Council of Mongolia, B. Baatarzorig signed the agreement in the presence of officers from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT).
Basis the bilateral talks that Mr Singh held with the Mongolian leadership last year, both sides agreed on the need to step up cooperation in a number of areas, following which this MoU was a natural next step. These sustained high-level exchanges between the two countries are a part of India’s ongoing outreach in Central Asia.