New Delhi: Australia is fast positioning itself to be a “trusted & reliable” supplier of critical and rare-earth minerals to India as well as Japan and the US even as it readies to hold the summit meeting of Quad, or the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, later this year in that country, said their envoy to India Barry O’Farrell.
In an exclusive interview to ABP Live, the Australian envoy said both sides will be looking at crucial “deliverables” during the upcoming maiden visit of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to India next month.
“It is a growing area for us. People often mistakenly think we only have reserves of coal … We also have significant quantum of critical minerals and rare-earths -Lithium, Cobalt and others - that the technology in our phones and computers rely upon. And we offer to India and to the world a trusted supplier and we are looking to ensure we have secured supply chains in place,” the envoy told ABP Live.
He said Australia is looking at supplying these critical and rare-earth minerals to not just India but also to Japan and the US under the Quad grouping. Australia is going to host the Quad Summit later this year.
“The Quad is focussed on new, critical and cyber technologies. These are technologies that help us to run our lives these days but there are also regrettably technologies that come with great harm if not properly regulated,” O’Farrell said, adding that supply of critical and rare-earth minerals is also a “priority area” within the Quad.
“Within the Quad we are looking to supply both Japan, India and the US with those products because all these countries have strong technology bases and it's in our interest to provide them with secured supply of these equipment so that we can ensure that their economies grow,” he added.
Australia will also create a supply chain of such minerals within the Japan-Australia-India trilateral arrangement.
“This is going to be a testing ground of how we can deliver within secure and resilient supply chains,” the high commissioner said.
PM Albanese, PM Modi To Focus On ‘Deliverables’
According to the Australian envoy, during the visit of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to India next month, both sides will seek to lay down the roadmap for concluding the talks for securing a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).
He said that the Commerce Ministers of both countries Piyush Goyal and his Australian counterpart Don Farrell are aiming at concluding the CECA following the signing and implementation of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) in 2022.
“As of 29 December last year (2022), 96 per cent of goods and services were sent from India to Australia without any tariffs. That rises to 100 per cent over the next three years. We hope to further deepen good and services trade between the two countries,” he said.
The envoy also added that under the proposed CECA both sides are also focussing on digital trade and enhancing two-way investments while also bringing in newer segments of renewables and climate change.
“Last year’s deal (ECTA) provided a boost to India’s tech companies by reducing double taxation. Indian tech companies help service the world’s economy, particularly in India,” he said.
O’Farrell added: “We've been ambitious, we've been novel, we've been direct and I would expect that in March when the two Prime Ministers meet we will see more of that practicality because PM Albanese and PM Modi are focussed on deliverables. They are not focussed on words across the sky. They want to advance their relationship for the benefit of their citizens here and in Australia.”
Australia Says It Stands For India’s ‘National Interest’
India and Australia upgraded their relationship to the level of ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ in 2020 under the previous Scott Morrison administration from ‘Strategic Partnership’ in 2009, even as Canberra’s relationship with Beijing deteriorated rapidly.
However, according to O’Farrell, India and Australia coming close strategically is not due to the tensed ties between Canberra and Beijing.
“I personally think that India and Australia would have continued to have headed in the same direction as we are now regardless of what our experiences have been with China over the last three years,” he said. “India knows that Australia stands for its national interest. In relation to China, Australia believes that it is in our best interest to have a dialogue with China. We will agree where we can, we will disagree where we must but as India has learnt we will always be guided by what is best for our national interest, what is best for our citizens.”
The envoy added: “There are many things that China previously bought from Australia but it was for its own reasons it decided not to continue to buy. We found other markets. We are a trading nation. We are happily doing more and more trade with India. So we believe dialogue with everyone is important and good for the world. But we are not going to have dialogue that affects either our national interest or our view of the region.”
In December 2022, Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong visited China and met their former foreign minister Wang Yi who is now promoted to a higher role.
O’Farrell said India and Australia defence and security ties are also growing stronger with “continued cooperation, continued reciprocity, continued joint exercises”.
In September 2022, a P8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft of the Indian Navy participated in the Multinational Maritime Exercise Kakadu 2022 hosted by the Royal Australian Navy in Darwin, along with INS Satpura.
Following that, as part of ‘Indo Pacific Endeavour 2022’ in November 2022, personnel from the Royal Australian Navy RAN Ships Adelaide and Anzac engaged in professional interactions and exercises with the Indian Navy and the Indian Army.