India angling for FTA with Mexico

India is looking beyond the EU and the US in trade. The Indian government plans to examine the feasibility of a free trade agreement (FTA) with Mexico. The North American country holds opportunities for India to expand trade and a visiting trade delegation has already been promised increased opportunities for sectors, including dairy, pharmaceuticals and telecom outside a free trade pact.

The Commerce Secretary recently led a trade delegation to Mexico including representatives from industries such as dairy, telecom, tyre manufacturers, pharmaceuticals and IT. After a series of productive meetings with both private industry and government agencies, it was gathered that there was a lot of potential to expand.

Way back in 2012, India had looked at a possible free trade pact with Mexico but it had not seemed a good idea because of limited trade at that time. While India?s total exports to Americas declined more than 10 per cent in 2015-16 to $52.882 billion and exports to the US declined 4.57 per cent to $45.3 billion, exports to Mexico, at $2.86 billion, remained unchanged.