India, Australia aim to boost economic, defense ties at first summit of PMs

The three-day visit by Albanese, the first by an Australian prime minister since 2017, comes days ahead of a visit by Japanese PM Fumio Kishida, another member of the so-called Quad grouping that seeks to counter China’s growing domination in the Indo-Pacific region.

Quad includes the United States and India besides Australia and Japan. Australia is due to host a Quad leaders summit in Sydney later this year.

“India and Australia share warm and friendly relations based on common values and democratic principles. The Strategic Partnership between the two countries was elevated to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in June 2020,” the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement ahead of the visit.

“Prime Minister Albanese’s visit is expected to provide further momentum to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.”

Speaking in Sydney on Tuesday, Albanese said Australia wanted “greater diversity in who we trade with - and greater variety in what we trade, meaning our economy is more resilient and more secure”.

The two countries signed last year a free trade agreement called the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), the first signed by India with a developed country in a decade.

It has resulted in the immediate reduction of duty to zero on 96% of Indian exports to Australia in value and zero duty on 85% of Australia’s exports to India.

However, a much larger Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement has been stuck in negotiations for over a decade. Discussions began in 2011 but were suspended in 2016 as the talks were gridlocked.

The negotiations resumed in 2021 but a deal has yet proved to be elusive. Australian Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell is a part of Albanese’s delegation and the visit is expected to provide an opportunity to hasten the ambitious deal.

Bilateral trade was $27.5 billion in 2021 and India says it has the potential to nearly double to $50 billion in five years under the ECTA.

REUTERS