Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's visit to India

Tags: International Relations

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese arrived in Ahmedabad on 8 March on a four-day (8-11 March) visit to India to participate in the India-Australia Annual Summit.

An Overview of the news:

• After reaching Ahmedabad, the Prime Minister of Australia visited the Sabarmati Ashram and paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi. He also participated in a cultural program at the Raj Bhavan in Gandhinagar, followed by a program at an Australian university in Albany Ahmedabad.

• Albanese will visit Ahmedabad, Mumbai and Delhi respectively during his visit. This is the first visit to India by an Australian Prime Minister since 2017.

• On the first day of his visit, the Prime Minister of Australia participated in the Holi program at the Raj Bhavan beside the Sabarmati Ashram in Ahmedabad.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese watched part of the 4th Memorial Cricket Test match of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

• On March 9 itself, the Australian Prime Minister went to Mumbai, where he was given a guard of honour at INS Vikrant.

• This is the first visit of Anthony Albanese, who became the Prime Minister of Australia in May 2022, and during this time there will be talks on various bilateral issues ranging from economic cooperation, defence cooperation.

• Australia and India have committed to a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) to further economic cooperation and trade agreement.

Free Trade Agreement (FTA):

• FTA is an agreement between two or more countries to reduce barriers to imports and exports.

• Goods and services can be bought and sold across international borders with little or no government tariffs, quotas, subsidies, or prohibitions to constrain their exchange.

FTAs of India:

• India has signed 13 Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with its trading partners, including 3 agreements:

• India-Mauritius Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA).

• India-UAE Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (CEPA).

• India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA).

India-Australia ECTA:

• Australia exports largely raw materials to India, while India exports finished goods.

• ECTA is based on this complementarity, creating better opportunities for both countries.

• India's imports from Australia are estimated at US$17 billion, while its exports to Australia are estimated at US$10.5 billion in 2022.

• However, India's imports from Australia are mainly (96%) raw materials and intermediate goods.