In 1911, Namnansüren persuaded Mongolia's religious leader Bogd Khan to call a congress of Mongol princes and high-ranking lamas in Khüree to initiate independence from China.

The Bogd Khan then dispatched him to Saint Petersburg in July 1911 as part of a delegation to seek Russian and West European support for Mongolian independence.

From November 1913 to January 1914 Namnansüren lead another delegation to St. Petersburg, this time to represent Mongolian interests during negotiations between Russia and China surrounding the tripartite Kyakhta treaty that would define the border between Russian Siberia and the Qing territories of Mongolia and Manchuria.

Mongolian hopes for international recognition of its independence and support for a union between Inner and Outer Mongolia were ultimately dashed when the agreement re-confirmed the country's official status as an autonomous region within China.

In June 1918, faced with increased threats from the Chinese who were demanding Mongolia renounce its Pan-Mongolia ambitions and sign a decree 'voluntarily' relinquishing autonomy, Namnansüren again traveled to Russia, this time to Irkutsk, to seek Russian assistance.