India and Mexico held the sixth round of the Foreign Office Consultations on June 29 in Mexico City and discussed a wide range of issues ranging from trade and investment to health and pharmaceuticals. During the consultation, the two countries signed an agreement for cooperation in space.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), 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.

“Secretary (East) @AmbSaurabhKumar (on behalf of ISRO) & DG of Mexican Space Agency @AEM_mx Dr Salvador Landeros signed the Specific Cooperation Agreement on Crop Monitoring, Drought Assessment & Capacity Building, which will further strengthen space cooperation,” the Indian Embassy in Mexico tweeted.

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 consultations reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations including political, trade and investment, health and pharmaceuticals, science and technology including space, culture and tourism, education, consular, and other areas of mutual interest. Multilateral and regional issues including cooperation at the UN, Pacific Alliance and the upcoming G20 Presidency of India were also discussed.

Also, the two sides agreed to continue high-level political exchanges and regular meetings of the joint institutional mechanisms such as Consular Dialogue, the Bilateral High-Level Group on Trade, Investment and Economic Cooperation (BHLG) and the Joint Commission Meeting to keep up the momentum in bilateral relations.

Both sides agreed to hold the next round of consultations at a mutually convenient date in New Delhi during the talks held in a friendly and warm atmosphere.

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%.

Image source: Twitter