India, Mexico sign agreement for cooperation in space

ISRO and Mexico’s AEM last signed a memorandum of understanding on space cooperation for peaceful purposes in October 2014

India and Mexico have signed an agreement for cooperation in space during their bilateral foreign office consultations in Mexico City, which focused on areas ranging from trade and investment to health and pharmaceuticals.

MEA secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar (left) with director general of Mexico’s AEM space agency Salvador Landeros. (Twitter Photo)

The specific cooperation agreement on crop monitoring, drought assessment and capacity building was signed on behalf of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) by secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar of the Union external affairs ministry and director general of Mexico’s AEM space agency Salvador Landeros on Wednesday.

ISRO and AEM last signed a memorandum of understanding on space cooperation for peaceful purposes in October 2014.

Kumar and Carmen Moreno Toscano, Mexico’s vice minister of foreign affairs, led the sixth round of the foreign office consultations on the same day. The two sides reviewed the gamut of bilateral relations, including political, trade and investment, health and pharmaceuticals, science and technology, space cooperation, culture and tourism, education and consular, the MEA said.

Multilateral and regional issues, including cooperation at the United Nations, the Pacific Alliance and the upcoming G20 presidency of India figured in the discussions.

The two sides agreed to continue high level political exchanges and regular meetings of joint institutional mechanisms, such as their consular dialogue, the bilateral high-level group on trade, investment and economic cooperation, and the joint commission to maintain the momentum in bilateral relations.

They also agreed to hold the next round of consultations in New Delhi.

Trade between India and Mexico stood at $9.32 billion in 2019, with Indian imports accounting for $4.14 billion and exports $5.18 billion. Trade figures witnessed a decline in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic, falling to $6.9 billion. However, India’s exports of pharmaceutical products remained steady in 2020 and increased by more than 80%.

India is the 10th largest trading partner of Mexico, and the trade balance has remained in favour of India for eight years. The main export from the Mexican side is crude oil, while the most important exports from the Indian side are automobiles, auto parts and pharmaceutical products. India is also Mexico’s third largest market globally.