$100B Indo-Australia trade deal negotiations likely to conclude by December
India and Australia are eyeing to conclude negotiations for their $100 billion-worth comprehensive bilateral trade agreement by December, Economic Times reported. This comes after PM Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Norman Albanese held a bilateral summit in New Delhi on Friday. In December, both nations implemented an interim trade agreement—Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA)—and are now focusing on the comprehensive deal.
Why does this story matter?
Looking at wider economic agreement: Piyush Goyal
"ECTA was the first stage of our economic engagement. We are now entering into phase two of...discussions where we are looking at a much wider ambit of subjects and taking this into a CECA (Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement)," said the Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal. He was addressing the media at the 18th Joint Ministerial Commission with his Australian counterpart Don Farrell.
Comprehensive deal would feature market expansion, new collaborations: Reports
According to reports, India and Australia opted to focus on the wider notion of continuing discussions on the more ambitious trade pact, or the CECA, following the signing of the ECTA last year. The CECA would reportedly include negotiations on greater market access and outcomes in new areas such as digital commerce, government procurement, and collaboration.
Bilateral merchandise trade totals $22.1 billion: Australian trade minister
Meanwhile, Australian Trade Minister Farrell highlighted that $2.5 billion-worth Australian items were delivered to India at a cheaper tariff during the first month of ECTA itself. According to him, Australia was India's 11th largest trading partner between April 2022 and January 2023, with bilateral merchandise trade totaling $22.1 billion. During this period, India exported and imported items worth $6.02 billion and $16.08 billion, respectively.
India, Australia aim to boost critical mineral trade
Australia and India are currently negotiating over critical minerals that could be used for manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles, per Goyal. He stated that India lacks essential minerals that are needed to produce the batteries for electric cars, and fortunately Australia has those in abundance.
What do we know about Indo-Australia defense cooperation?
Notably, India and Australia became comprehensive strategic partners in 2020 after they signed a major agreement under the Mutual Logistical Support Agreement (MLSA) for mutual access to military sites for logistics support. To recall, four Indian Air Force Sukhoi Su-30 MKI fighter planes and two C-17 heavy-lift aircraft took part in a 17-nation air combat exercise in Australia last year as well.
