Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement with India delivering huge results: Australian envoy

New Delhi, Feb 5 (IANS) Australia's High Commissioner to India, Philip Green on Thursday said that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and PM Narendra Modi remain rock solid on their approach and vision for the Indo-Pacific - a region which should always remain stable, free and prosperous.

Speaking to IANS, Green lauded the Indian community Down Under for for their contribution and strengthening bilateral business links. He noted that the two nations do not compete with each other and produce different sorts of goods and services.

When asked about how India and Australia can ensure free, open and rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific, the Australian envoy responded, "Australia and India share the Indo-Pacific region and we share a vision for it, that it should be stable and free and prosperous. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and my Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, are absolutely rock solid on that and that's one of the things that's driving our bilateral relationship together, strategic alignment, economic complementarity. We produce very different sorts of goods and services, so we rarely compete. And thirdly, what's driving us together is what we call the human bridge. More than a million people of Indian origin who now make Australia home, making a big contribution to our community in Australia, but also making a contribution to bilateral business links."

Highlighting the friendship and reliable partnership between both countries, Green stated that the economic cooperation and trade agreement between the two nations has already delivered huge results in business.

Asked whether the recent geopolitical disruptions can strengthen bilateral cooperation between India and Australia, he said, "I think the lesson that we've learnt is that friendship and reliable partnership and trust are very important. And that's what India gets with Australia, and that's what Australia gets with India. And with that, you can do important things like the Free Trade Agreement, ECTA, that we signed only a few years ago, which is already delivering huge results between Australia and India in business."

Notably, Australia and India upgraded bilateral relationship from ‘Strategic Partnership’ in 2009 to Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) in 2020. According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), India and Australia have much in common, underpinned by shared values of a pluralistic, Westminster-style democracies, Commonwealth traditions, enhancing economic engagement and increasing high level interaction. The ties between two nations are based on mutual understanding, friendship and a shared vision of a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

The India-Australia economic relationship has also grown significantly over the recent years. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAUS ECTA) came into force from 29 December 2022. The two nations have held 11 rounds of negotiations on India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) till date.

--IANS