MONGOLIAN PRESIDENT ADDRESSES RUSSIAN AND CHINESE HEADS

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ The meeting has run in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, between the President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj, the President of Russia V.Putin and the Chairman of China Xi Jinping. This unique in terms of content and format meeting took place during the 14th Summit of the Council of Heads of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) Member States which kicked off Thursday in Dushanbe. Mr Elbegdorj thanked his counterparts for meeting with him and for their recent visits to Mongolia. He underlined that these visits were well-timed and fruitful actions having a great historical importance. “Our trilateral meeting is taking place to discuss the high level Ulaanbaatar Dialogue that aims to expand the trilateral win-win cooperation,” the leader of Mongolia said and presented reasons why this Dialogue should be run in our capital. “Firstly, Mongolia considers a development of friendly relations with its two neighbours as a priority of its foreign policy. There are some vital issues that can be tackled by the three countries, infrastructure and transit transportation including. Secondly, Mongolia is the only country in the world to border China and Russia in terms of geography, which means that it can reach seaports through territories of its neighbours only. Thirdly, Mongolia considers itself as the most reliable and shortest transit and infrastructure junction through which Russia can access Asia from Europe and China can access Europe from Asia,” he said. Based on these factors, he went on, principles of the trilateral Dialogue come: It would be hosted every three years in the capital of Mongolia; It would be open for public and would satisfy common principles of the trilateral cooperation, it would consider and decide the trilateral matters, especially regarding transit transportation, infrastructure and the regional issues. He noted that had delivered these proposal to Mr Xi Jinping and Mr Putin during their recent visits to our country, and said that at this meeting he would like to consider and to reach decisions on three matters: to discuss the above principles and to reach a united position on them; to intensify a process of “General intergovernmental agreement between Mongolia, Russia and China on Railroad Transit Transport”, which was discussed to be settled in the near future, and to organize three working groups’ meeting within 2014 in Ulaanbaatar, the same meeting can be held on research into building “Western Pipeline of Gas” through Mongolian territory; to get supports from China and Russia in Mongolia’s seeking a membership in APEC during its upcoming Summit to be held in Beijing this November. As for the UB Dialogue, a meeting of three vice-ministers of foreign affairs may be organized annually, firstly in Ulaanbaatar within 2014, he said. He ended his speech believing that “our beneficial cooperation will contribute significantly to not only the three countries’ but also to the regional development”.