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Access To Indian Agriculture Sector Is Important For Australia, Envoy Philip Green Says.
Jan 29, 2024

Australia is keen to get easier access to India’s agriculture market under the proposed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) that is being negotiated between Canberra and New Delhi even as first phase of the trade pact, officially known as the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), has resulted in Indian goods to be available at much lower cost in that country, according to Philip Green, High Commissioner of Australia to India.

Speaking exclusively to ABP LIVE, Green said the ECTA has since coming into force already achieved a 77 percent utilisation rate of free trade access by exporters on both sides. However, he added, it is crucial for Australia to get more market access in India for agricultural goods, including agriculture technology.

'The first phase – ECTA – is going very well. The utilisation rate of the free trade access is now at 77 percent. That’s an extremely high level for free trade agreements. Indian products are able to enter Australia more cheaply and therefore more are flowing,' the Australian envoy told ABP LIVE during an interview.

According to Green, export of apparel and clothing from India has seen a 10 percent increase since the ECTA came into force in December 2022. He also highlighted that exports of Indian agricultural goods witnessed a 16 percent rise due to the trade deal.

'We are very keen to conclude the second phase, which is called CECA… (In CECA) Agricultural access is important to us. We are a big agricultural exporting country and we think that Indian consumers can benefit from more Australian agricultural goods at lower costs,' he said.

India and Australia have been negotiating the CECA since May 2011. However, after several rounds of negotiations, talks were suspended in 2016. It was thereafter revised in September 2021, and eventually the ECTA was signed.

One of the main reasons why concluding the CECA has missed many deadlines is due to Australia’s insistence on having reduced or tariff-free access to India’s agriculture market. The CECA is currently under negotiations and may not be concluded before the later part of this year until a new government comes to power in India after the parliamentary elections that are expected to be held in April-May 2024.

Last December, an Australian parliamentary delegation visited India to discuss Australia’s entry into the Indian farming segment, which remains a contentious topic between both sides.

'We understand that this (agriculture) is sensitive for India. We have no desire to upset the lifestyles of important numbers of Indian people. To the contrary, we actually think that this deal (CECA) can be built in such a way that it supports the agricultural sector in India. We have a lot of agri-tech and we are prepared to share that. We would like to find ways of making sure that this is a win-win for Australia and India in agriculture,' said Green.

India Needs To Be ‘Quick & Assertive’ In Importing Critical Mineral, Rare Earth

In October 2023, the Anthony Albanese government unveiled a plan to make it easy for countries to invest in mining and processing critical minerals and rare earth by announcing a $1.25 billion fund. With China dominating the market and the demand for critical minerals like lithium and cobalt increasing, Australia has said it wants India to be a steady player in that supply chain.

'Concluding the CECA would mean better utilisation of Australian critical minerals in India’s renewable energy trade especially in electric vehicles and batteries … India wants to do more in the renewable sector and we want India to be successful in that and we have a lot of the resources that are required for that. We want to make sure that Indian firms and governments are part of that supply chain,' said Green.

Australia is the largest exporter of lithium and second-largest producer of cobalt in the world.

'We are going to be real about this. The demand for our critical minerals is high. Purchases in North America, purchases in North Asia, purchases in Europe, they are on the ground, as are some Indians. So my message to the Indian industry is that we are here to help, we want you to succeed, but you got to be quick and you are going to be assertive in a way you are going to go about it,' he stressed.

Green, who assumed charge as Australia’s envoy for India in August, also said: 'I do not think India is lagging behind. This phase is natural. We know about the mining game, it won’t be quick, developing mines takes time, takes high level of trust and of course, takes resources. I am confident that we will get there but my message is we all have to work harder and faster at this moment so when we come to the end of the next term of an Indian government we can say yes we got that done.'

India ‘An indispensable Partner’ In Indo-Pacific

With tensions now rising in the Red Sea region due to relentless attacks by Houthis on merchant vessels that have invited military operations in Yemen by the US and the UK, Australia said its ties with India are now more critical than ever under the Indo-Pacific strategic framework.

'We (Australia and India) live in a more complex, contested and dangerous world and we both need greater partnerships and deeper friendships with those whom we trust and with those with whom we have similar outlooks. For Australia, India is on a very short list of those countries that we want to deepen and we feel it’s important as we face more tension in our region,' said Green.

He added that 'both our governments are making very powerful efforts to manage those tensions', and aiming to see that the conflict in the Red Sea region 'do not widen in a way that it becomes dangerous for all of us'.

Earlier this month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar visited Iran where he raised the issue of 'threats of maritime shipping' with Tehran. Meanwhile, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong visited Jordan, Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, and the United Arab Emirates, to mitigate the growing tensions arising in the Middle East that is threatening growth in global commerce.

Since December, Houthi rebels have been attacking merchant ships passing through the Red Sea in retaliation to Israel’s deadly airstrikes on Gaza that has given rise to a humongous humanitarian crisis.

'The situation in Gaza is dire. Although Hamas attacks are to be completely decried, the ending of Hamas must be sought and we support Israel in that, the humanitarian interest of the people of Gaza must be held in that balance, that’s terrifically important… We are also focussed on the original cause of this, which we would like to bring to a sustainable ceasefire … And a ceasefire that is not unilateral,' said Green.

Australia is also part of the Quad, which includes India, Japan, and the US. According to the envoy, the Quad will remain focussed on the Indo-Pacific while he ruled out any expansion plans of the grouping.

'We are dealing with a world with global challenges in multiple locations. For our country, still, the top priority is the stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific and against that ambition India is an indispensable partner,' said the Australian envoy.

news.abplive.com

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