India: India, Australia sign interim free trade deal

NEW DELHI, 04 April 2022, (TON): India and Australia signed an interim free trade deal that cuts tariffs on billions of dollars of commerce as the two Quad partners bolster their economic ties.

Both signatories are members of the Quad alliance with the United States and Japan, which is seen as a counterweight to an increasingly assertive China.

But while they both border the Indian Ocean, Canberra says “India was only Australia's seventh-largest trading partner in 2020, and accounted for just over 4% of its exports in 2021.”

The Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement was signed simultaneously in New Delhi and Canberra by India's Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his Australian counterpart Dan Tehan in a joint ceremony.

Goyal said “India and Australia are natural partners, connected by shared values of democracy, rule of law and transparency.”

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