Islamabad (TDI): Chinese Premier Li Qiang has proposed cooperative triangle for three way strategic partnership with Russia and Mongolia.
The Li Qiang held a key meeting with his counterparts from the neighboring Russia and Mongolia on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Islamabad, state media reported as the Chinese premier returned from Pakistan.
The contents of the meeting was not known until Chinese official media reported it.
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Ties among China, Russia and Mongolia have been revamping for last few years, with China and Mongolia both rolling out the red carpet this year for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as Moscow did for China’s Xi Jinping in 2023, before Beijing hosted Mongolia’s president.
“China is ready to work with Russia and Mongolia to further enhance mutual trust, strengthen coordination and promote deeper … trilateral cooperation,” Li, China’s second-ranking official, said, according to the official news agency, Xinhua.
He held discussion on key issues with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Mongolia’s Prime Minister L Oyun-Erdene.
Mongolia is not a member of the SCO, a China-led Eurasian security bloc, having chosen instead to be an observer state since 2004.
Still, China continues to gently nudge its smaller neighbour towards joining the grouping of 10 nations.
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The resource-rich, landlocked country is also important for the United States which has promised to invest in its mining and heavy industry.
However, Washington was critical of Ulaanbaatar’s decision to host Putin in September, ignoring a warrant for his arrest from the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
Such a warrant normally obliges the court’s 124 member countries, including Mongolia.
Mongolia lies on the proposed route of a major pipeline that Russia plans to build to carry 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas per year from Yamal to China.
In a separate meeting with Mishustin, Li said China was willing to strengthen trade and energy ties with Russia.
According to some media reports, the two sides also discussed regional peace and development.
