Vice President Hamid Ansari embarks on two-day visit to Mongolia

Vice-President Mohammad Hamid Ansari leaves for Mongolia to lead the Indian delegation at the 11th Asia -Europe Meeting. The two-day ASEM Summit is being held at Ulaan Baatar - the capital of Mongolia from Friday.

Secretary East of Ministry of External Affairs Preeti Saran said that India is keen for more successful outcome of the Summit through building the resilient and multidimensional interconnectivity between Asia and Europe.

She said that ASEM summit is a unique platform to bridge the two continents for constructive partnership and exchange through political dialogue, economic collaboration and socio-cultural exchanges. The theme for the Summit is "20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future through Connectivity".

During the visit, Mr Mohammad Hamid Ansari will meet the Mongolian leadership. Vice-President is likely to hold bilateral meetings with the leaders of several other participating countries. India has strategic relations with Mongolia after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s



visit last year. Vice-President’s visit will help to strengthen the relationships between the two countries.

India joined ASEM in January 2007 and has taken part in four earlier summits. This year is unique for ASEM as it celebrates 20 years of its establishment.

Though the theme of the Summit is - 20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future through Connectivity", the Political developments in Asia and Europe, measures on counter-terrorism and issue of migration will remain on focus. Issues like human rights, drug trafficking, transnational crimes and human trafficking will also likely to discuss during the summit.

The recent development on South China Sea issue will also figure during the bilateral talks of some member countries. The leaders are expected to discuss ASEM's achievements over the past 20 years and its future direction. ASEM is an informal dialogue platform for 21 Asian and 30 European states apart from the European Council, the European Commission and the ASEAN.