External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj is on a six-day visit to China and Mongolia from April 21-26. In China, Swaraj will attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit scheduled for April 24 apart from holding bilateral discussions with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi on Sunday.
Her visit will also prepare ground for a proposed bilateral tour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to China, dates for which are still being worked out. In addition to this Modi will in June attend the SCO heads of the state meeting in China's Qingdao.
Swaraj's visit to Mongolia is for bilateral talks with her counterpart Damdin Tsogtbaatar. This will be EAM's first visit to Mongolia. The last visit of Indian External Affairs Minister to Mongolia was 42 years ago. During her visit, Swaraj will co-chair the 6th round of India-Mongolia Joint Consultative Committee (IMJCC) meeting with Tsogtbaatar, covering a range of issues including, inter alia, political, strategic, economic, educational and cultural ties. The last meeting of IMJCC was held in New Delhi in 2016.
In Mongolia Swaraj will also deliver the keynote address at the Kushok Bakula Birth Centenary Celebrations in Ulaanbaatar commemorating the birth anniversary of late Venerable Kushok Bakula Rinpoche, a highly revered Buddhist leader and monk from ladakh, India and a former Ambassador of India to Mongolia, Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.