President arrives in Havana for official visit

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ President of Mongolia Ts.Elbegdorj arrived in Havana on September 15 to pay an official visit to the Republic of Cuba. Upon the welcoming ceremony, the President of Mongolia paid tribute by laying wreaths at the statue of the Cuban national hero Jose Marti. The President of the State Council and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Cuba, Mr Raul Castro officially welcomed President Ts.Elbegdorj. After this, the commander of the honor guards gave report and the national anthems were played. Present at the welcoming ceremony were, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Mongolia Ts.Munkh-Orgil, Mongolian Ambassador Ts.Batbayar, acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba Marcelino Medina Gonzalez and Cuban Ambassador to Mongolia Raul Delgado. Mongolia and Cuba established diplomatic ties in December of 1960, and exchanged respective embassies in July and September of 1962. The two countries practiced visits and exchanges in all levels of relations through political channels in the socialist years of Mongolia, before the 1990s. Highlights of such exchanges were the visits of Mongolian leaders Yu.Tsedenbal (1972) and J.Batmonkh (1984), and of the then-Minister of Defense of Cuba Raul Castro to Mongolia (1970). The visit of President Ts.Elbegdorj is special for becoming the first high-level political visit in the last half century.