India extends $1 billion credit to Mongolia for its first refinery www.pennews.net
New Delhi, May 14: India has extended a $1 billion Line of Credit to Mongolia to help set up its first ever grass-root refinery in Sainshand, Dornogobi province.The funding has been provided through the Exim Bank. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Ulan Bator in 2015 had announced a credit line of $1 billion for infrastructure sector in Mongolia. This is currently being utilised by Mongolia to build the oil refinery.
The1.5 MMTPA refinery is expected to be completed by 2022.Ties between India and Mongolia date back centuries with Buddhism seen as a major binding factor between the two countries. In recent years, the two countries have set up mechanisms like the India-Mongolia Joint Working Group for Defence and the “India-Mongolia Joint Committee on Cooperation (IMJCC)" chaired at ministerial level besides others to cement cooperation.
“For Mongolians, India is one of counter-weights to their neighbours (Russia and China), a 'spiritual neighbour,' a declared third neighbour and strategic partner and centre for pilgrimage," says a Ministry of External Affairs background note on bilateral ties.
In April last year, during External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj's visit to the country, it was agreed to intensify cooperation in energy, trade and economy, IT, healthcare, animal husbandry, infrastructure development and other developmental sectors. (UNI)
Published Date:2019-05-15