Mongolian President pays tribute to Mahatma Gandhi

President of Mongolia, Khaltmaagiin Battulga on Friday paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat here.

He was joined by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.

Earlier today, Battulga received a ceremonial reception at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here and was received by President Ram Nath Kovind.

"I am very happy that I am on a state visit to India with which we have centuries of spiritual and cultural relations and ties," President Battulga said.

"We (President Ram Nath Kovind and I) were elected around the same time in July 2017, and I would like to invite the President of India to pay an official visit to Mongolia," he added.

Earlier on Thursday, Battulga arrived in India on a five-day visit with an aim to intensify bilateral ties between the two countries. He was received by Union Minister Kiren Rijiju.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Mongolian President will jointly unveil the statue of Lord Buddha at Gandan Monastery via video conferencing, later today.

The Mongolian President will also meet Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu.

Battulga's visit to India is the first state visit by a Mongolian President in last 10 years, the MEA said, noting the two sides will hold in-depth discussions on a range of bilateral, regional and global issues.

It also said the two countries would review ongoing cooperation in fields of infrastructure, energy, disaster management, defence, security, culture, and capacity building.

The two countries had reached a strategic partnership in 2015 during the visit of Prime Minister Modi to Mongolia. A number of high-level exchanges have taken place since then and the partnership has seen considerable progress during the last few years.