US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper is gifted a horse in Ulan Bator, Mongolia on Thursday. Idrees Ali/ Reuters

US Defence Secretary Mark Esper met senior Mongolian leaders on Thursday in a rare visit to the strategically important nation as the Pentagon seeks to implement its strategy of focusing on countering China and Russia.

On a map, Mongolia, locked between Russia and China, best represents the Pentagon’s priorities over the coming decades.

“It is my deep privilege to be here, to be with you and to have the opportunity to look at different ways we can further strengthen the ties between our two countries,” Esper said before the start of his meeting with his Mongolian counterpart.

The ceremonial highlight of the visit was when Esper was given a seven-year old caramel coloured horse as a present. Esper named the horse Marshall after former US Defence Secretary General George Marshall.

“He’s happy, he likes his name,” Esper, standing next to the horse, said.

The horse will stay behind to be cared for in Mongolia, though Esper was given a framed photo of the it. Esper, in return, gave the caretaker a blanket for the horse which is used by the US Army Old Guard.

Esper’s visit to Mongolia, on his first international trip since being confirmed as Defence secretary, highlights the importance the country is seen as playing in the region.

This is the first visit to the country by a Defence secretary since 2014, when Chuck Hagel spent about four hours there. Esper spent a night in the capital, Ulaanbaatar.

Mongolia is eager for investment from the United States and other countries it considers “third neighbors” to help it reduce its economic dependence on China, through which most of its exports of cashmere and other goods move.

Late last month, Mongolian President Battulga Khaltmaa visited Washington to meet with President Donald Trump.

“They have been a good ally that punches above its weight, and I think Secretary Esper wants to acknowledge (that) and see if there are ways to grow the partnership further,” said a senior US Defence official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The official said that while this trip was not about promoting any specific initiative, the United States is keen to look at expanding ties, potentially in areas like military training, which could take advantage of Mongolia’s cold weather.

REGIONAL IMPORTANCE

Esper’s trip to Mongolia comes at a particularly tense time in relations between the United States and China, which are locked into an escalating trade war.

Last year, the US military put countering China and Russia at the center of a new national Defence strategy, shifting priorities after more than a decade and a half of focusing on the fight against Islamist militants.

Mongolia has been a consistent US military partner, providing troops to US-led missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, where it still has about 200 troops.

It also has a relationship with North Korea, something Washington could leverage as Trump seeks to revive stalled denuclearization talks with Pyongyang. The country is accessible by rail from North Korea.

“Mongolia is not going to side entirely with anybody against anybody,” said Abraham Denmark, a former US deputy assistant secretary of Defence for East Asia.

“But they are looking to bolster their relationships with the United States because possibly they want American economic engagement and political engagement, but also because it gives them a bit more breathing space in their relations with Beijing and Moscow,” Denmark said.

Reuters