MELBOURNE/NEW DELHI, 21 March 2022: Australian PM Scott Morrison and Indian PM Narendra Modi today started the 2nd India-Australia Virtual summit with warm words for each other. In the initial remarks, PM Scott Morrison congratulated PM Modi for his party’s election victory in five states and talked about ‘the very distressing backdrop of the war in Europe’, referring to Ukraine. He then said, “But cooperation between like-minded liberal democracies is key to an open and inclusive and resilient and prosperous Indo-Pacific, and I welcome your leadership within the Quad to keeping us focused on those important issues.” Plus, the Aussie PM hoped the Interim Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement to unlock new opportunities and benefits for both our economies will bring us closer to a full agreement as soon as I hope we can achieve that.
In his opening remarks, PM Modi said, ” we have made significant progress in our Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, CECA, in a very short time, and we have made great progress and I am very sure that we will reach an agreement very soon on the remaining issues, as well. The quick conclusion of CECA will definitely give a boost to our economic [inaudible] and economic security.
There is also good cooperation between us in the Quad framework. Our cooperation under the Quad demonstrates our commitment towards a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific. The success of Quad is essential for regional and global stability.”
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison will later unveil a ₹1,500-crore (A$280 M) investment package to boost bilateral ties between Australia and India during a virtual summit with PM Narendra Modi today. The summit took place under the shadow of the Russia-Ukraine war where both countries took different positions.
India which is in the Quad did not condemn Russia, but the other members’ US, Japan and Australia condemned it and imposed sanctions against it. India is also buying discounted oil from sanction-ridden Russia. India’s stand is seen as ‘strategic autonomy’ because of its spacial relations with Russia and earlier the Soviet Union during the cold war.
The summit will witness the largest ever trade pact by the Australian government in India with Canberra set to announce investments worth Rs 1,500 crore in the country across multiple sectors. The two countries are also expected to conclude an early harvest agreement by the end of this month.
An early harvest agreement is aimed at liberalising tariffs on the trade of certain goods between two countries or trading blocs before a comprehensive agreement.
As per sources, the two countries will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the field of critical minerals, which will help increase India’s access to metallic coal and lithium in Australia and cater to India’s growing demand for electric vehicles and growing infrastructure.
Further, the Union Minister of Coal and Mines in India, Pralhad Joshi, will visit Australia soon, as per the sources.
