From Trade To Temple, Modi-Albanese Meeting Shows India-Australia Ties Have Matured

New Delhi: From enhancing two-way trade to taking actions against those who vandalised temples and tackling Khalistan elements, the bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese Wednesday was a manifestation of maturity in the relationship. Since coming to power in Australia, Albanese has met Modi six times, signalling boosting of ties even as both countries see China as a common adversary. Advocating a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific, New Delhi and Canberra sought to push for conclusion of the talks for having a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

“We reiterated our shared ambition for an early conclusion of the Australia-India Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement later this year,” PM Albanese said Wednesday during a joint press conference with Modi in Sydney.

PM Modi said the CECA, which will allow Australia to have tariff-free access into the Indian market, was the focus of talks between both leaders.

According to Foreign Secretary Vinay M Kwatra, the next round of CECA talks between the trade negotiators of both countries will take place consecutively in June and July.

This comes after both countries signed a preliminary trade pact in 2022 — Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) — under which over 85 per cent of Australian goods are exported to India tariff free, which will rise to 90 per cent by January 1, 2026, while import tariffs on some Australian agricultural products have also seen reduction.

Australia and India both expedited the CECA talks, which began in May 2011, after New Delhi stormed out of the China-led Regional Cooperation Economic Partnership (RCEP) in November 2019.

However, Australia continues to maintain a robust trading relationship with China even though it considers Beijing’s growing belligerence in the region as a strategic challenge.

PM Albanese is expected to undertake a visit to China soon to urge the Xi Jinping regime to lift all trade bans from Australia.

On Tuesday, Modi met some of the leading industry leaders of Australia seeking greater investments from them into India. Some of the Australian industry captains he met were Andrew Forrest, Executive Chairman and Founder of Fortescue Metals Group and Fortescue Future Industries; Paul Schroder, Chief Executive, AustralianSuper; Gina Rinehart AO, Executive Chairman, Hancock Prospecting Group; and Roy Hill, S. Kidman & Co, among others.

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Defence And Strategic Ties To Reach Newer Heights

India and Australia share a ‘Comprehensive Strategic Partnership’ under which both sides have not only strengthened bilateral defence and security ties by setting up a 2+2 format talks between the foreign and defence ministries, but have also pushed their partnership under the Quad, of which the US and Japan are also members along with India and Australia.

Both leaders recently participated in the Quad Summit that took place in Hiroshima, Japan, on the margins of the G-7 Summit.

Last month, Australia under the Albanese government unveiled an even more ambitious defence plan compared to his predecessor Scott Morrison. Under the new National Defence Strategic Review 2023, Australia sought to take the country’s defence budget to $19 billion.  

“We talked about taking our Comprehensive Strategic Partnership to new heights in the next decade,” Modi said Wednesday.

PM Albanese said in an interview to a media outlet Wednesday: “The truth is that India itself has been concerned about border skirmishes with China which have occurred on its border, and India is a nation that does respect national sovereignty and national borders.”

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Khalistan Referendum In Australia Gets Called Off

During the bilateral meeting in Sydney, PM Modi also raised the recent incidents of vandalisation of temples by Khalistan separatists who have been holding referendums across Australia seeking support for a separate country for the Sikhs.

"PM Anthony Albanese and I have in the past discussed the issue of attacks on temples in Australia and activities of separatist elements. We discussed the matter today also. We will not accept any elements that harm the friendly and warm ties between the India-Australia relationship by their action or thoughts. PM Albanese assured me once again today that he will take strict actions against such elements in the future also,” Modi said.

Earlier this year, a series of such incidents came to light, and New Delhi asked Canberra to take actions against the perpetrators, after a violent clash broke out between Khalistan supporters and a section of the Indian diaspora in Melbourne on January 29 following a referendum.

The clash, which involved around 100 people, occurred at Melbourne’s Federation Square in which several people got injured and some were detained by the local Victoria Police.

On this issue, PM Albanese in the interview cited above said: “India is, of course, the world's largest democracy. Here in Australia, of course, people have a right to express their views in a peaceful way, and people, we all have different views about people in politics. Australia, of course, always stands up for human rights, wherever it occurs anywhere in the world."

Last week, Sydney's Blacktown City Council called off requests for holding a Khalistan Referendum on June 4 there. Khalistan sympathisers held a protest Wednesday against the decision even as the two leaders met.