New Delhi: Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull arrived in New Delhi on Sunday on a four-day India visit during which he will hold talks with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on ways to boost ties in key areas including defence, security, energy and trade.
However, the much-anticipated economic pact between India and Australia will not be inked during his visit. According to External Affairs Ministry, the two countries are likely to sign a number of MoUs covering a range of areas including defence and security, environment, renewable energy, sports and trade.
India is also likely to raise the issue of security of Indians in Australia in the wake of incidents of attacks on some of them.
Ahead of his visit, Australia's High Commissioner to India Harinder Sidhu had clearly said that the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) will not be signed during the trip.
"Negotiations are underway but the pact will not be signed," Sidhu had said.
The talks for CECA were launched in 2011 and during the visit of former Australian PM Tony Abbott in 2014, the two sides had expressed the hope that the pact would be inked by the end of 2015, a deadline which has already been missed. However, the Indian side has reiterated its commitment to the free trade pact. Some of the sticking points in the negotiations include India's high tariff structure for dairy and agri products as also Australian wine.
While there is interest in Australian companies to be part of India's nuclear market, there are concerns in that country over safety regulations in India.
Australia has about 40 percent of the world's uranium reserves and exports nearly 7,000 tonnes of the yellow cake annually.
"Australia is willing and well-placed to help India with its education aspirations, including its goal of upskilling 400 million people by 2022," Birmingham said.
Comments
0 comment