Mexico FM meets ISRO Chairman Somanath; existing relations, future projects discussed

Mexican Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard Casaubon, who embarked on a two-day India visit on March 30, met with ISRO Chairman Sreedhara Panicker Somanath on March 31. The meeting took place in New Delhi where the two discussed the current relationship between ISRO and the Mexican Space Agency (AEM). According to ISRO, the discussion was conducted under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 'Space Cooperation for Peaceful Purposes,' which was signed between the two sides in October 2014. 

The meeting also involved discussions over the potential opportunities for enhancing space coordination between India and Mexico as well as establishing cooperation channels to ensure ISRO's support to Mexican space projects. In addition to this, the Mexican diplomat also called on Union Minister of State Jitendra Singh for strengthening existing collaboration between the two countries in new areas such as vaccines, Information Technology, green revolution, health, and biotechnology.

"A number of joint projects have been implemented between the two countries in different fields of science & technology to foster collaborative research. This has helped expand networking between scientific communities of both the countries", Dr. Singh said, as per the Ministry of Science and Technology's official release. It is pertinent to mention here that Mexico is India's second-largest economic partner in Latin America and both countries clocked in bilateral trade of $10 billion in the year 2021. 

Mexican Foreign Minister meets EAM S Jaishankar

Prior to meeting the ISRO Chief, Casaubon interacted with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar to discuss trade, investment and UNSC cooperation between the two nations. Taking to twitter, Jaishankar revealed that the interaction also involved reflecting on the bilateral relations including health, science and technology, and the space sector.

The Mexican FM also tweeted about his meeting with Jaishankar saying, "Very cordial conversation about the bilateral relationship, investments, cooperation for drugs and vaccines, the international order and multilateralism. We are moving towards a strategic and increasingly close relationship."

Both the representatives had previously met in September 2021, when Jaishankar embarked on a trip to Mexico. Casaubon's visit to India is an addition to a long list of foreign delegates who are arriving in New Delhi in recent days. Currently, India is also hosting Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his counterpart from the UK, Liz Truss, who are both trying to lure India into their camp amid the Ukraine crisis.

Image: Twitter/@ISRO