President Pratibha Patil gave protocol jitters as she inadvertently passed the tricolour at the ceremonial reception without bowing, but quickly went back after her attention was drawn by the Mexican guard commander.
Patil, who was inspecting a guard of honour by the Mexican Presidential Guards, walked past the Mexican flag without realising that her Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon had stopped to pay respect to his country's flag.
The president then moved ahead without stopping before the Indian flag. "Madam President," the guard commander called out and Patil quickly retraced her steps and honoured the tricolour.
The Mexican leg of the President's 13-day three-nation visit started on a disappointing note as her address to the joint session of Parliament had to be cancelled at the last minute in view of the blockade of the House by Left-leaning legislators protesting presentation of the Energy Reforms Bill by the Mexican president.
During the day, Patil addressed the Indian community and spoke about the "privileged partnership" between India and Mexico.
"Indian communities settled in different parts of the world are making an important contribution to the economy, life, culture and social values of those nations," she said, adding though the number of Indians and the people of Indian origin in Mexico is not very large, they have begun to make a mark in this country, particularly in the economic sector.
"Relations between our two countries are poised to develop and diversify in a variety of sectors. In this process, members of the Indian community living and working abroad and our diaspora have a very important role to play," Patil said.
The President later attended a banquet hosted in her honour by the Mexican president during which she said, "Indians gratefully remember the contribution of Mexico's 'Sonara' variety of wheat to our Green Revolution decades ago."
Touching upon the 'Privileged Partnership' between the the two countries, she said this was based not "just on our commonalities in the past, but on the vision that we share for the future for our bilateral relations and also for the world."
She said it was important that they draw up a road map for the rapid development of our trade and economic relationship.
"As the largest democracy in the world, we have great admiration for the vibrancy of Mexico's democracy. The democratic yearnings of our two countries, our faith in non-violence and dialogue; the pluralistic and secular credentials of our polities make us natural allies in facing the global challenges of today.
We have had cooperation in the past in international fora, be it the UN or the WTO, and on issues like climate change, the Doha trade negotiations and the fight against terrorism. It is critical that our two countries continue to display even greater harmony in the coming days," she added.
