The 17th edition of India-Mongolia Joint Military Exercise, Nomadic Elephant, will commence on May 31 in Ulaanbaatar, officials said.
The operation will continue till June 13.
In a statement posted on X, the Indian Army wrote: “The 17th edition of the Joint Military Exercise #NomadicElephant 2025 between #IndianArmy & Mongolian Army will be held from 31 May to 13 June 2025 at #Ulaanbaatar, #Mongolia.”
Aim of the exercise
As per the Indian Army’s statement, the exercise aims to improve interoperability between both the Armies in conducting non-conventional operations in semi-urban/mountainous terrain under the UN mandate.
“The exercise will foster enhanced military cooperation, strengthen joint operational capabilities and build camaraderie between the #IndianArmy and the Mongolian Army,” the X post said.
India-Mongolia Relationship
The defence cooperation received a massive boost during the visit of Defence Minister of India Rajnath Singh to Mongolia from September 5-7, 2022.
“Unusual display of warmth and hospitality by the Mongolian President and Supreme Commander of MAF, U Khurelsukh, Speaker of the Parliament and his counterpart Defence Minister Gen. Saikhanbayar contributed to reinforcing importance of India as a close strategic partner of Mongolia,” read the Indian Embassy in Mongolia’s website.
The announcement by the Defence Minister of giving 2 ALS Indian made Ambulances and 200 special winter clothing and defence training courses under ITEC Programme to Mongolian Armed Forces (being offered for the last 2 decades now averaging about 18-20 slots a year) was well received by Mongolian MoD.
Immediately following Singh’s visit, in October 2022, Gen. Saikhanbayar, visited India along with a 3-member high-level delegation to attend DefExpo-2022 in Gandhinagar and also had a bilateral meeting with the Indian Defence Minister and paid a courtesy call on the Vice President.
Impressed by India’s defence capabilities, Mongolian Defence Minister expressed a keen desire to establish a Small Arms Ammunition factory in Mongolia, procuring light armoured vehicles for MAF & sourcing material for MAF uniforms and detailed Prof Ulziit Luvsanjav to coordinate with DDP.
Previously, N. Enkhbold, the then Minister of Defence, visited India in March 2018 and held bilateral talks with RRM, RM, NSA and COAS.
There is also an India-Mongolia Joint Working Group (JWG) for Defence cooperation that meets annually.
