Latin America push: India looks to strengthen ties with Mexico

NEW YORK: Focusing on strengthening links with Latin America, India discussed ways to strengthen its relationship with Mexico, seeing it as a gateway to Latin America. India and Mexico discussed ways and means to strengthen their bilateral relationship. India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President of Mexico Enrique Peña Nieto met on the sidelines of the 70^th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session on September 28 to take the relationship forward.

Mexico is a geographical link between North and South America and is a very important country for India. Apart from being a fast growing economy, it is also a major oil exporter. India, the fastest growing economy in the world and the third largest economy in Asia is energy starved and requires more energy to meet its consumption demands. Discussing ways to strengthen the bilateral relationship, Mr Modi and Mr Nieto stressed on the need for the foreign ministers of the two countries to meet and finalise a plan of action to take the relationship to the next level.

India sought support from Mexico to back India’s membership in looking to secure a place in export control regimes like Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), Missile Technology Control and securing a permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). Both the leaders extended an invitation to visit each other’s country.

Among all the Latin American countries India’s engagement with Brazil has been the highest. Brazil is also India’s partner in multilateral groupings like BRICS, the India, Brazil, South Africa (IBSA) Dialogue (a tripartite group for promoting international cooperation among these countries) and the G-4 countries.

To enhance engagement with the region, starting with Mexico would be a valuable start in expanding India’s outreach to Latin America, a region with which it has a limited relationship and less connectivity.

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