Mongolia hosting annual multinational peacekeeping drill

By Necva Tastan

ISTANBUL (AA) – Mongolia is hosting an annual multinational peacekeeping exercise with the involvement of 26 countries.

The 14-day drill, "Khaan Quest," is the 19th such drill which began on Monday, with Laos participating for the first time and Türkiye joining with a full team.

The US, South Korea, Japan, Australia, China, Canada, and India are among the countries joining the exercise.

Addressing the launching ceremony, Mongolia’s President Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh highlighted the East Asian country’s pursuit of a peaceful, independent foreign policy and emphasized its growing friendships and collaborations with countries worldwide, including the UN.

“As one of the five major measures to increase the capacity of peace support operations in the Asia-Pacific region, the “Khaan Quest” peacekeeping exercise has been making a significant contribution to increasing the peace support capacity of participating countries and strengthening their friendship and military trust,” Khurelsukh said, as quoted by the state news agency Montsame.

The "Khaan Quest" exercise, co-organized by the Mongolian Armed Forces and the US Indo-Pacific Command since 2003, has been participated by over 18,000 military personnel from 67 countries.