Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ink several pacts during Australia visit
IANS | November 11, 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ink several pacts during Australia visit
Fixing up timelines for concluding negotiations on a bilateral trade agreement, exchange of sentenced prisoners, cooperation on narcotics control and pacts on tourism and cultural cooperation are on the anvil during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s bilateral meeting with his Australian counterpart Tony Abbott in Canberra.
The Prime Minister will be in Australia for a 5-day visit from November 14-18, during which a number of agreements will be signed and announcements made on initiatives.
The two premiers will seek to speed up negotiations and fix timelines on concluding negotiations on the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), also known as the free trade agreement (FTA), to boost bilateral trade, an official said Monday.
The CECA aims to further liberalise and broaden the base of merchandise trade, remove non-tariff barriers and encourage investments.
Talks were first started for the CECA in 2011 and so far five rounds of negotiations have been held.
PM Modi will have delegation level talks with Abbott and address the parliament in Canberra, have political, business and community meetings in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne where Abbott will host dinner.
A strong delegation of CEOs will accompany the prime minister to highlight the economic interests, said Secretary (East) Anil Wadhwa at a briefing in the national capital.
Wadhwa said the negotiations on the Administrative Arrangements for Civil Nuclear Energy were proceeding smoothly and it would open the way for trade in uranium with Australia. Australia has shown interest to engage in the country’s mining sector, he added.
"On the economic front, trade in goods declined from US$17.5 billion in 2011-12, to $12.5 billion in 2013-14. To address this, we seek to conclude a mutually beneficial CECA at an early date, hold a Make in India Show 2015 in Australia and reconstitute CEO Forum to step up economic engagement," the secretary said.
"We are also looking at greater flow of services, including IT, investments, tourism," Wadhwa added.
On security issues, Wadhwa said both countries had a good working relations in counter-terrorism and transnational crimes. "We have finalised text of Agreement on Transfer of Sentenced Persons and MOU on Combating Narcotics which will help our common efforts," he said.
During the Australian PM’s visit to the country in September, both sides inked four agreements, including on civil nuclear cooperation, sports, skills and water.
