Free Trade Agreement between India and Australia comes into force -

New Delhi: The Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and Australia has come into force from Thursday. The Prime Minister of India has welcomed it and said it is a historic event for comprehensive strategic cooperation between the two countries. The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, claimed that the trade deal is a great opportunity for the Australian industry. The Australian Prime Minister has also announced that he will visit India with a business delegation in March next year. The trade between India and Australia is expected to go up to 45 to 50 billion dollars in the next five years.

India and Australia signed the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) on 2nd April this year which was negotiated in 88 days. The agreement has come into force from Thursday. India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said former Australian fast bowler Brett Lee’s pace and Sachin Tendulkar’s perfectionism were factors in the deal negotiations. Also, the commerce minister claimed that this agreement would significantly benefit India’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME). Currently, the annual bilateral trade between India and Australia stands at 31 billion dollars. However, the trade between the two countries is expected to grow to 45 to 50 billion dollars in the next five years due to the ECTA.

This trade cooperation with Australia will lead to the creation of nearly 1 million new jobs in India. Under this agreement, 100 per cent of Indian products will directly benefit from the Australian market with additional tax breaks. Nearly 98.3 per cent of Indian exports to Australia will get this concession from the first day of implementation of this trade agreement. The rest of India’s exports will be given this concession in a phased manner over five years. Out of Indian exports to Australia, 70% of India’s exports will be given tax concessions. Out of this, India is subsidizing about 40 per cent of Australian exports from day one of this agreement.

Due to ECTA, India will get the supply of raw materials like coal, aluminium etc., from Australia at moderate rates. Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal has said that the Indian industrial sector will perform more effectively in the global race due to the benefits of ECTA due to it. Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell has pointed out that ECTA translates to trade cooperation between two large democratic countries in the world. Trade Minister Don Farrell believes this will open up the Indian market, with a population of about one and a half billion, for Australia.

The mention of democratic countries by Australia’s trade minister is noteworthy. Trade between China and Australia has declined due to political differences, and China has been adopting policies targeting Australian exports. The issue of Taiwan, Australia’s stance on the Corona epidemic and its opposition to China’s hegemonic policies in the Indo-Pacific region have angered China against Australia. Against this backdrop, Australia responded to Chinese pressure by increasing trade and military cooperation with India. That is why Australia’s free trade agreement with India is very important not only from an economic standpoint but also in terms of strategic collaboration. It is reflected in the Australian reactions regarding the deal.

While Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed the deal, he announced that he would visit India with a high-level business delegation in March next year. Prime Minister Albanese has informed us that the Prime Minister of India has invited him for this visit.

मराठी हिंदी