Tag: Mongolia

PM Modi, Mongolian President unveil Lord Buddha statue in Ulaanbaatar

Source: moneycontrol.com

Amid the chanting of Buddhist prayers, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga on September 20 jointly unveiled a statue of Lord Buddha at the Gandan Monastery in Mongolia via video.

The Mongolian president is on a five-day visit to India.

The golden statue with Lord Buddha holding a bowl was unveiled at a brief ceremony held at the prime minister’s Lok Kalyan Marg residence.

The Gandan Monastery is located in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar.

Just before the unveiling, young monks at the monastery chanted Buddhist chants. Soon after, a Buddhist monk present at the prime minister’s residence offered prayers as Modi and President Battulga stood with folded hands.

The Prime Minister’s Office on September 19 described the unveiling ceremony as a “symbol of India-Mongolia spiritual partnership and shared Buddhist heritage”.

In May 2015,PM Modi had visited the monastery where he presented a Bodhi tree sapling describing it as a token of friendship from the Indian people.Gandan is the largest and most significant monastery in Mongolia. Built in the mid 19th century, it is the only monastery where Buddhist services continued to function even during the Communist period.

India to help Mongolia mitigate impact of smog

Source: dnaindia.com

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga, who met on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum, discussed was on how India can help mitigate the impact of smog in the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar.

The foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale said, “President of Mongolia spoke of the success India is having in mitigating the pollution due to stubble burning of wheat in the winter months”

According to Indian Council of Agricultural Research, there have been 41% decline in burning of crop stubble in 2018 as compared to 2016 in Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and NCR region due to central government measures.

President Battulga will be visiting India later this month and will be touring Delhi, Bodh Gaya and Bengaluru. India is helping the landlocked country build an oil refinery through a line of credit announced during PM Modi’s visit to the country. In 2015, PM Modi became the first Indian Prime Minister to visit the country.

Mongolia, which is landlocked between Russia and China considers India as its “third neighbour” with which it has a spiritual connection.