Late on July 20th, the President of Mongolia, Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh, touched down in Bishkek as part of a two-day state visit to Kyrgyzstan. It forms part of Khürelsükh’s wider Central Asian tour, with the President set to fly to Dushanbe following his sojourn in the Kyrgyz capital.
The trip builds on Kyrgyz President Sadyr Japarov’s 2023 visit to Ulaanbaatar, where he oversaw the opening of Kyrgyzstan’s first embassy in Mongolia and toured the Genghis Khan Museum in the capital.
A warm greeting
Khürelsükh was welcomed by Japarov on the red carpet at Manas International Airport, where traditional dances, music, and even a ceremonial eagle were laid on. The pair greeted each other like old friends before the motorcade swept along the empty roads towards the city.
Like Japarov, Khürelsükh has been president since 2021, although, unlike his Kyrgyz counterpart, his role is largely ceremonial. Indeed, current Mongolian politics offers a hint of nostalgia to those in Kyrgyzstan with fond memories of the pre-Japarov era. In June, the Mongolian Prime Minister was forced to resign after losing a vote of confidence in the country’s parliament. This followed months of protests after press reports covering his son’s extravagant spending.
The second day of the visit afforded Japarov the chance to play to statesman-like host and welcome a new visitor to the Presidential Palace – the Yntymak Ordo – which is still less than a year old. With temperatures hitting 37°C (98° Fahrenheit) in the Kyrgyz capital, the Mongolian leader arrived at the palace in a blacked-out Mercedes, flanked by a horse-mounted honor guard. The besuited leaders then stood in the baking sunshine to receive a military salute from Kyrgyzstan’s army.
A burgeoning friendship
Perhaps the scale of the pomp masks the limits of what can be achieved bilaterally.
Iskander Sharsheyev, an independent Kyrgyz economist, was keen to stress to The Times of Central Asia that the leaders did achieve some breakthroughs in terms of agriculture:
“Veterinary certificates were signed… This provides a new market for Kyrgyz producers. Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia signed a memorandum of cooperation in the field of wool processing, including cashmere. Mongolia is one of the world leaders in cashmere production, and the transfer of technology and training of specialists can dramatically improve the Kyrgyz textile sector.”
However, real announcements were thin on the ground and the language of diplomacy was heavy with blandishments: “We strive to develop mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas, especially in the trade and economic sphere,” said Khürelsükh, while Japarov noted that “comprehensive cooperation with Mongolia is one of the priority areas of the development of Kyrgyzstan’s foreign policy.”
The question is whether there is any substance behind this.
Economically, the numbers are hardly going to move the dial. In the first five months of this year, Kyrgyzstan exported $3.1 million worth of goods to Mongolia, much of it confectioneries. Mongolian exports in the other direction are even lower. While officials are trumpeting the rate of growth, which tripled in 2024, it’s worth having a sense of proportion – $3.1 million would struggle to get you a two-bedroom apartment in New York’s Upper East Side. Indeed, former Mongolian Prime Minister Sukhbaatar Batfold was forced to relinquish two apartments in New York worth $14 million after they were found to have been purchased using the proceeds of “unlawfully awarded mining contracts.”
But the limited economic rationale does not mean the visit is without merit: symbolism can often lay the foundation for strategic benefits in the long term.
Joining the regional club
As is customary amongst foreign leaders visiting Kyrgyzstan, Khürelsükh proceeded into the foothills of the Ala-Too mountains to lay a wreath at the Ata-Beyit memorial complex, which remembers Kyrgyz intellectuals purged during the 1930s.
Such memorials have particular resonance in Mongolia, which, although never officially part of the Soviet Union, was also a People’s Republic from 1924–1990, and effectively a vassal state of Moscow. Between 1937-39, it witnessed its own purges under Khorloogin Choibalsan, the “Stalin of the Steppe”, in which over 20,000 people were killed. Buddhist monasteries were burned down, and tens of thousands of monks were imprisoned or shot.
While not entirely compensating for trade turnover, such connections have the potential to be more than fodder for historians.
The two nations have a shared nomadic identity, with horses and yurts being amongst their cherished national symbols. Indeed, the past decade has seen the reemergence of the idea of a Greater Central Asia – including not just the Soviet “stans” but also Afghanistan and Mongolia.
Mongolia has been working hard to integrate itself into the regional club. In particular, hosting Uzbekistan’s president Shavkat Mirziyoyev in June this year, the first trip of an Uzbek head of state to Mongolia in the independence era. This came on the back of a visit to Tashkent by Khürelsükh in 2024.
This week’s trip, taking in Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, is part of a similar regional push.
“It highlights Mongolia’s strategic interest in new economic routes and strengthening political alliances,” said Sharsheyev, adding that this is especially important in the context of landlocked countries. “This can be perceived as an effort to strengthen regional resilience and reduce dependence on giant neighbors – China and Russia.”
Limited Options
Mongolia is currently experiencing rapid economic growth, primarily through its export of raw materials, especially coal. Its GDP is forecast to expand by 6.6% this year on the back of the growing economic benefits from the controversial Oyu Tolgoi copper mine on the Chinese border.
Even more so than Turkmenistan, the Mongolian economy is highly dependent on Beijing to buy its products. Some sources estimate that up to 92% of the country’s exports go to China.
In short, Mongolia is stymied by geography. While the countries of post-Soviet Central Asia have alternative trading routes with the rest of the world via Iran, the Caspian Sea, and a burgeoning route across Afghanistan, Mongolia is surrounded on all sides by Russia and China.
In the Altai region, Mongolia is tantalizingly close – 23 miles – to having a border with Kazakhstan, and many ethnic Kazakhs live in Mongolia. However, Russia and China are wedged between the two countries.
This is likely to limit Mongolia’s ability to reap the full benefits of any regional groupings that do not involve Russia or China, and is perhaps why Ulaanbaatar is seeking membership of the Moscow-led Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), with which it signed an interim free-trade agreement in late June.
Kyrgyzstan has stated that it welcomes Mongolia’s bid to join the EAEU, while Ulaanbaatar has also expressed interest in becoming an observer member of the Organization of Turkic States.
Integration can also be seen on the academic front, with Ulaanbaatar hosting the 10th CAMCA Forum in June, a regional get-together for journalists, academics, and business people from Central Asia, Mongolia, the Caucasus, and Afghanistan.
For a country as isolated as Mongolia, perhaps establishing the idea that it is part of Central Asia has merits in itself. On that front, if the visit was about setting a benchmark and increasing Mongolia’s visibility in the region, it has been a success.
“Interest in the visit of the President of Mongolia [has been] observed not only in political and business circles, but also among the general public,” said Sharsheyev. This is facilitated by a high level of media coverage… The visit is [also] being discussed on social networks, which indicates a growing interest in cooperation between the two countries.”
“What a handsome President of Mongolia,” commented one Kyrgyz user on Instagram.
“We are brothers after all,” noted another.
