FILE PHOTO - U.S. Representative Eliot Engel (D-NY) speaks during the introduction of the Climate Action Now Act on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 27, 2019. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Eliot Engel invited Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador on Monday to visit the House Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington, following a meeting with him and other lawmakers in Mexico City.

An aide to Engel, the Democratic chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, said the Foreign Affairs panel would hold a hearing for Lopez Obrador.

Lopez Obrador underscored the importance of maintaining a close, respectful relationship with the United States to find solutions to shared challenges, his government said in a statement.