PM Modi, Mongolian President plant saplings under ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative (Photo credit: ANI)

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa jointly planted a sapling at Hyderabad House in a symbolic gesture of environmental conservation.Both PM Modi and President Ukhnaa aim to promote environmental sustainability and encourage citizens to plant trees through the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ and ‘One Billion Trees’ campaigns, respectively.Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday jointly planted a sapling with Mongolian President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa under ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative.The exercise also came under the President’s One Billion Trees campaign.In a post on X, Official Spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal said, “PM Narendra Modi and President Khurelsukh Ukhnaa jointly planted a sapling at Hyderabad House in honour of the President’s mother. The gesture brings together PM’s ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative and the President’s One Billion Trees campaign — a shared commitment to protecting our planet for future generations.”The President arrived in Delhi on Monday and was accorded a guard of honour and a ceremonial welcome at the Air Force Station Palam. External affairs minister S Jaishankar called on President Khurelsukh and reviewed our bilateral ties ahead of the Leaders Meeting. This morning, the visiting President paid homage at Rajghat, laying a wreath at the Samadhi of Mahatma Gandhi.At Hyderabad House, President Khurelsukh held restricted and delegation-level discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The discussions were warm, wide-ranging and forward-looking, covering strategic and development partnerships, cultural ties, trade, education, critical minerals, renewable energy, and people-to-people exchanges. This is their first official meeting, and the leaders developed a close personal rapport during the talks.In a display of personal connect, the two leaders jointly planted a tree in the name of President Khurelsukh’s late mother at Hyderabad House. This special gesture symbolised the common threads between Prime Minister Modi’s Ek Ped Ma Ke Naam initiative and President Khurelsukh’s One Billion Trees campaign, as well as their shared commitment to environmental sustainability.The two leaders jointly released commemorative postal stamps marking the 70th anniversary of our diplomatic relations. We also adopted a Joint Statement on strengthening the strategic partnership, charting a shared vision for future engagement that includes resilient supply chains and critical minerals.Mongolia reiterated its support for India’s permanent membership of the UN Security Council and also for India’s candidacy as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2028-29 term. Mongolia also signed the framework agreement of the International Big Cat Alliance, reflecting our shared commitment to conservation.