India and Mexico have taken a significant step towards strengthening their economic partnership with the signing of the Terms of Reference for a Preferential Trade Agreement. The signing formally marks the launch of negotiations for a mutually beneficial and balanced agreement aimed at expanding bilateral trade, creating new business opportunities, boosting investment flows, and building resilient and diversified supply chains. The Terms of Reference were signed by Commerce Secretary, Rajesh Agrawal, and Mexico’s Undersecretary of Foreign Trade, Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez Romano, in Mexico. The framework outlines key areas for negotiation, including market access for goods, rules of origin, customs procedures and trade facilitation, dispute settlement and technical barriers to trade.

The initiative follows the understanding reached between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Claudia Sheinbaum during their meeting on the sidelines of the G7 Summit in Canada in June last year. During the meeting, the two leaders had agreed to further strengthen and deepen the India-Mexico partnership.