Mongolia on Wednesday marked 25 years since its first democratic election, a key milestone in the transformation of the once Communist nation squeezed between giant neighbors Russia and China.

President Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj, who as a student led protests that helped spark the changeover from seven decades of Soviet domination, told a commemoration that his country was now "an active democracy unique to the region".

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks Sunday with his counterpart during a visit to Mongolia, with the two nations upgrading relations as Delhi tries to strengthen its influence in China's backyard.

Meeting Prime Minister Chimed Saikhanbileg, Modi praised the resource-rich nation as "the new bright light of democracy in our world" and said the two were "closely linked to the future of the Asia-Pacific region".

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began a three-day trip to China Thursday by inspecting the Terracotta Warriors as a festering border dispute rs relations between the Asian giants.

Modi visited the World Heritage Site in the ancient Chinese capital of Xian, pictures posted on his official Twitter account showed, after he was greeted on the airport tarmac by a dancing troupe.

A Canadian mining executive in Mongolia trying to enforce a judgement of more than $100 million against the government for expropriation has been found dead in his hotel room, authorities said Friday.

Jim Doak was chairman of uranium miner Khan Resources, a TSX-listed firm whose licences in the Dornod region were cancelled by Ulan Bator in 2009. The deposit is now operated by Russia's state-owned ARMZ Uranium Holding Co.

Mongolia's parliament began voting in a new cross-party cabinet Tuesday, its official website said, as the sprawling, resource-rich nation struggles with stalling economic growth.

The "super coalition" of 19 ministers is made up of four different political parties, representing the vast majority of the 76-member Great Hural or parliament. 

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel Thursday endorsed stronger military ties with Mongolia as it seeks a U.S. partnership as a counterweight to its powerful neighbors Russia and China.

Hagel and his Mongolian counterpart Dashdemberel Bat-Erdene signed a "joint vision" statement in Ulan Bator calling for expanding military cooperation through joint training and assistance.

Mongolia's re-elected President Tsakhia Elbegdorj was sworn in Wednesday, promising rapid development amid a resources boom.

Mongolians headed to the polls Wednesday for a presidential election with the three candidates promising fairer wealth distribution from a spectacular mining boom that has raised questions over the role of foreign investors.

Recent polls suggest President Tsakhia Elbegdorj will secure a second term to continue his policy of using foreign cash to help drive the rapid development of Mongolia's economy, which grew by 17.5 percent in 2011 and 12.3 percent last year.

The United States on Monday gave back to Mongolia the remains of a 70-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus skeleton stolen from the Gobi desert and sold at auction in New York.

The nearly complete skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus bataar, a cousin of the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex, had been put up for sale and went for $1.05 million last year before U.S. authorities intervened at Mongolia's request.

On the streets of Ulan Bator a people renowned for their horse riding skills have to contend every day with ever more Hummers, Land Cruisers and Range Rovers.

Mongolia's vast open steppes and deserts stretch for hundreds upon hundreds of kilometers (miles), and it has the lowest population density of any country in the world.