Quotes of the Day

Your nation is sandwiched between two giants, China and Russia. How do you cope?
There are no big political issues between our countries, but our two neighbors have a great interest to invest in Mongolia, to keep their economic interests. But we have a great interest to balance that and to bring in more third-party investors.

Mongolia's extraordinary economic growth has been driven by its natural resources. How do you avoid the resource curse — corruption, conflict and poor growth — that has affected so many other countries?
There are many countries that have failed with natural resources, and not many have succeeded. The countries that are succeeding are open countries — Norway, Australia, Canada. And I regard my country as an open and democratic country.

Are you confident that your country's natural wealth can lead to real development?
As President, I must educate and invest in our people. We have to invest in health, education and socioeconomic infrastructure. And invest in other sectors, like agriculture.

Are foreign companies helping this process?
We usually try to put some requirements in agreements. For example, Rio Tinto is making a big investment, and part of that is that Rio Tinto has a duty to help us to prepare our people, to train engineers and qualified workers. They've already established two big learning centers.

As Mongolia grows, how do you regard the Mongols living in China and Russia?
There are roughly 10 million people who think of themselves as Mongols. Only 3 million live in Mongolia. I'm encouraging ethnic Mongols to come back, and if they know the language and respect the culture, they can become permanent residents.

Do you share your lessons with other smaller countries in the region?
Since we're locked by two giant countries, some people think that Mongolia is the end of the earth. I think now we're no longer that but a great hub of freedom spreading those values. When people are free, they tend to create good things, and we want that prosperity to grow.

On a trip to Iran, you visited a controversial nuclear-enrichment site.
It was the first time I've visited Iran. When I was preparing to go, in my head I only had one interest: our historical past. In the 12th, 13th, 14th centuries, our kings ruled much of the area, and most of our history related with that period is in Persian libraries and archives in Iran. But when I was in my hotel, I found out that any head of delegation can go to visit Iran's nuclear facilities. And I thought, you know, my first major is journalism, and I was curious.

So what did you find?
Of course, I'm not a weapons inspector. My position is clear: Iran's nuclear activity should not endanger any other country's security. And I think Iran should comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions.

Mongolia also has historical ties with North Korea. Can you give us some insight into the new leader, Kim Jong Un?
The new leader wants to put the economy first. Before him, with his grandfather, the army was first. Now — because of internal pressure, international pressure, Chinese pressure — the new leader will try to put the economy first or at least at an equal level with the military.

Your rival, Nambaryn Enkhbayar, has been jailed on corruption charges. Some of his supporters in the U.S. and elsewhere say this is politically motivated.
We have a zero-tolerance policy on corruption. When someone is investigated for corruption, he sometimes uses his connections, his money, to create some sideshows — maybe outside of Mongolia — to create a court of public opinion in order to avoid the court of law. But in Mongolia we have no censorship, we have 40 TV stations, over 100 newspapers, and they're investigating all these cases. [Hillary] Clinton was here in June and said if you want to see rule of law, come to Mongolia. If you want to see democracy in action, come to Mongolia.

• Ishaan Tharoor
• Mongolia's President Tsakhia Elbegdorj on democracy, corruption and his resource-rich nation's place in the world