PM Modi, Mongolian Pres to jointly unveil Lord Buddha statue tomorrow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mongolian President Khaltmaagiin Battulga will jointly unveil the statue of Lord Buddha at Gandan Monastery via video conferencing on Friday.

"Symbol of India-Mongolia spiritual partnership and shared Buddhist heritage! PM @narendramodi and President of Mongolia @BattulgaKh to jointly unveil Lord Buddha statue at Gandan Monastery tomorrow via video-conferencing," the PMO tweeted.

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.

The Mongolian leader will receive a ceremonial welcome by President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday morning after which he will lay a wreath at Raj Ghat, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.

Later, Battulga will meet Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan at Rashtrapati Bhawan followed by a meeting with Prime Minister Modi at his residence.

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.