President Tsakhiagiin ELBEGDORJ gave the following comments to reporters’ questions at the press conference today held on the occasion of the state visit of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, H.E. Dr. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, regarding his recent visit to the nuclear facility in Natant of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well as his meeting with the North Korean representatives in Tehran.
The President Tsakhiagiin ELBEGDORJ said the following:
For the first question:
Mongolia became a member of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) in 1991 and I attended the 16th high level Summit of the NAM, held in Tehran. During the Summit, the Iranian government provided an opportunity to visit the nuclear facility in Natant to the participants of the Summit and my delegation and I visited the site on September 2.
Mongolia pursues democratic, transparent, peaceful and multilateral foreign policy as enshrined in our Constitution. As such, my visit to the Natant nuclear facility, I believe, shall make a contribution to the cause of maintaining peace in the world.
My standing on Iran’s nuclear program is clear.
First, it should be transparent to the world community; particularly that program must be under the permanent supervision of the UN and International Atomic Energy Agency.
Second, Iran’s nuclear program must not endanger or cause threat to the interest and safety of the regional peace as well as of any other nation.
Third, Mongolia remains committed to her nuclear weapon free status, which is supported by special UN resolutions; we shall make our contribution to safeguarding universal peace by fully banning nuclear weapons in East Asia, and in the world at large.
For the second question:
During the Summit in Tehran, I also met with the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), Mr. Kim Yong-Nam.
For the purpose of fostering
peace in Asia as well as expanding cooperation within countries in the East Asian region, Mongolia holds the position of using peaceful dialogues as a means to handle issues on the Korean Peninsula. As President, I have been putting importance to the matter and making efforts in this regard over the years.
Mr. Kim Yong-Nam and I also talked about North Korea’s food shortage and discussed about the possibilities for Mongolia to provide food aid through bilateral as well as multilateral channels.
Mongolia closely observes the economic reform program initiated by the new leader of the DPRK and is ready to share Mongolia’s experience of overcoming the economic transition challenges for successful reforms.
- Government [4]