Canberra pushes for a fuller trade agreement with New Delhi, building on bilateral trade growth of 17 per cent since the 2022 interim deal.
Australia and India are set to resume negotiations on a broader trade agreement in the coming weeks, with Australian Trade Minister Don Farrell confirming fresh talks with New Delhi are imminent. “We’re going to have another crack at India in the next few weeks,” Farrell said on 30 March, addressing the National Press Club in Canberra, citing significant gains already delivered by the existing agreement.
The two countries have been working toward a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement since formally relaunching negotiations in 2021, building on the interim Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement signed in April 2022 and in force since December 2022. India is Australia’s fifth largest trading partner with two-way trade in goods and services valued at $54.4 billion in FY2024-25. Farrell noted that trade between the two countries has risen 17 per cent since the 2022 deal came into force.
Farrell was candid about the pace of negotiations, indicating that a sweeping single-stage outcome is unlikely. “With India, it’ll be step by step. We’re not going to get a big bang agreement,” he said. He also acknowledged that talks would not be straightforward, describing India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal as “a very hard man.” The talks come shortly after Australia concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement with the European Union on 24 March 2026.
Australia is a major supplier of critical minerals, energy resources, and agricultural products, while India exports manufactured goods, pharmaceuticals, and services. Both governments also view the partnership through a strategic lens, deepening cooperation in the Indo-Pacific under the Quad framework alongside the United States and Japan.
Source: Bloomberg / Business Today
