The 5th meeting of the India-Mexico Bilateral High-Level Group on Trade, Investment and Cooperation has been held .
Both sides deliberated over a number of outstanding issues, from Audio-visual Co-production, Bilateral Investment Treaty, market access for agricultural products, a cooperation framework on Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) measures, cooperation in the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), and exploring ways to promote tourism and people-to-people contact.
They also agreed to expand and diversify the bilateral trade relationship through enhanced cooperation in pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, healthcare, agro-products, fisheries, food processing and aerospace industry, etc.
The two nations also signed MoU. That is Memorandum of Understandings . Stating Cooperation in Electronics, Computer Software and Telecommunications and Information Technologies. Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology.
India and Mexico have historial ties, Mexico was the first Latin American country to recognise India after Independence and establish diplomatic relations with India in 1950. During the Cold War era , Mexico and India worked together as members of the United Nations (UN), both developing countries such as in the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations. Both countries are the members of G-20.
Both the countries had established a ‘Privileged Partnership’ in 2007. Both agreed to work for achieving a ‘Strategic Partnership’ in 2015. The two countries have several agreements including for Investment Promotion and Protection, Extradition, Administrative Assistance in Customs Matters, Space Cooperation. India gives 20 scholarships to Mexico under the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation (ITEC) programme and Mexican diplomats are given training at Forest Survey of India (FSI).
Mexico is India’s largest trading partner in Latin America. India is currently Mexico’s ninth-most important global trading partner. The last decade has seen a surge in trade between the two countries, which has grown from around USD 5 billion in 2015-16 to USD 9.4 billion in 2018-19.
Not just in trading but India-Mexico also have cultural ties. The Gurudev Tagore Indian Cultural Centre has been in Mexico since October 2010, teaching Yoga, classical dances. An agreement on cultural cooperation has been in existence since 1975 and cooperation activities are carried out through four-yearly ‘Programmes of Cultural Cooperation’. The Indian community in Mexico is estimated to be more than 7,000, mostly software engineers of Indian IT companies, academics/professors, and businessmen.
Mexico and India have had difference in viewpoints about nuclear non-proliferation. During Indian Prime Minister’s 2016 visit, Mexico pledged support for India’s bid to be part of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Both countries have differences on the issue of United Nations Security Council (UNSC) reforms.
Both India and Mexico are non-permanent members of the Security Council for the period 2021-2022, which is a good opportunity to set aside their differences on global governance issues and work closely on areas of mutual interest.
