US President Barack Obama called Mexico's president-elect Enrique Pena Nieto on Monday to congratulate him on an election win, which returned the once-reviled Institutional Revolutionary Party to power.

The State Department meanwhile said the "stakes were high" for the US-Mexico relationship, as a vicious drugs war rages south of the border and the two governments face a challenge posed by transnational criminal syndicates.

"The president reiterated his commitment to working in partnership with Mexico, and looks forward to advancing common goals," a White House statement said about the call said [AFP]