December 12, 2020

Media reports say Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar confirmed on Wednesday that India and Australia are in discussions over a bilateral free trade agreement. The South China Morning Post (SCMP) mentioned that Australia and India held nine rounds of talks on a trade deal between 2011 and 2015, before Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed to restart negotiations in June.

The reason why the India-Australia trade deal had been in negotiations over a long period of time but with little progress before 2020 is mainly due to a lack of motivation on both sides. Interactions between the two countries in the past were not as frequent as this year.

It has been widely seen that the two countries have made numerous efforts this year to boost bilateral ties. For example, Morrison and Modi in June announced the start of a "comprehensive strategic partnership" between the two countries. New Delhi in October invited Canberra to join its annual Malabar naval exercise, which was previously a trilateral maritime exercise only among the US, Japan and India. Furthermore, the two countries alongside Japan also agreed in September to start supply chain cooperation. Again this year, both Australia and India have had the impetus to further strengthen cooperation ranging from defense to politics and trade. As a result, a bilateral free trade agreement has been put on their respective agendas.

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