[ad_1]
Australian High Commissioner to India, Barry O’Farrell on Tuesday lauded India’s economic stability and said “India has markets that can help us grow in the post-COVID world.”
In an exclusive interview with ANI, the Australian High Commissioner congratulated India on becoming the 5th largest economy in the world.
“India and Australia are complementary economies. We have elements to assist India to grow, India has markets that can help us grow in the post-COVID world. For democracy, when you do trade deals. There’s got to be benefits for both countries,” he said.
Speaking about India-Australia 1.5 track dialogue, Barry O’Farrell said, “It’s an opportunity to bring together academics, business people and think tankers to discuss common problems and see greater cooperation between both countries as we are tackling similar issues.
Sharing his view on the next Quad hosting by Australia, Barry O’Farrell said, “I am delighted that Australia is hosting quad leaders meeting next year, which means PM Modi will visit Australia… India, Australia, Japan & US are focused on their region, security, health needs and climate change issues.”
Regarding Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) and Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement (DTAA), he said that the commitments by the Australian Government will be delivered “but democratic countries have to go through a process and in our case, that’s happening as quickly as possible.”
India and Australia Saturday signed an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA) which is set to provide zero-duty access to 96 per cent of India’s exports to Australia including shipments from key sectors such as engineering goods, gems and jewellery, textiles, apparel and leather.
The pact is expected to boost bilateral trade in goods and services to USD 45-50 billion over five years, up from around USD 27 billion, and generate over one million jobs in India, according to a government estimate.
The agreement will also give about 85 per cent of Australia’s exports zero-duty access to the Indian market, including coal, sheep meat and wool, and lower-duty access to Australian wines, almonds, lentils, and certain fruits.
Zero-duty access for Indian goods is set to be expanded to 100 per cent over five years under the agreement.
India and Australia enjoy excellent bilateral relations that have undergone transformative evolution in recent years, developing along a positive track, into a friendly partnership.
This is a special partnership characterized by shared values of a pluralistic, parliamentary democracy, Commonwealth traditions, expanding economic engagement, long-standing people-to-people ties and increasing high-level interaction.
The India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership was initiated during the India-Australia Leaders’ Virtual Summit.
Growing India-Australia economic and commercial relations contribute to the stability and strength of a rapidly diversifying and deepening bilateral relationship between the two countries.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
[ad_2]
Source link
