India, Australia outline path for early conclusion of FTA

India and Australia have “outlined a path forward for the early conclusion” of their Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), the government said Monday.

The two sides discussed critical areas of the proposed agreement, including trade in goods, services, mobility, agri-tech cooperation, among others during a three-day stocktake meeting held from December 4-6.

“The discussions also centred on market access modalities that align with India’s food security objectives,” the commerce and industry ministry department said in a statement.



The Indian delegation was headed by additional secretary and chief negotiator, department of commerce, Rajesh Agrawal, while the Australian side was led by first assistant secretary and chief negotiator, department of foreign affairs and trade, Ravi Kewalram. The meeting follows the 10th round of CECA negotiations held in Sydney from August 19-22 where both sides made significant progress on various aspects of the CECA.

“Both delegations expressed optimism about the future of the CECA and the broader India-Australia economic partnership. The discussions have paved the way for further collaboration, particularly in areas such as agricultural innovation, market access, and supply chain resilience,” the ministry said.


CECA negotiations began in February 2023, nearly two months after the signing of the interim trade agreement, also known as the Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA). Both countries signed ECTA in April 2022, which came into effect later that year, on December 29.

The proposed comprehensive trade deal envisages covering five broad areas, including goods, services, digital trade, government procurement, and product-specific rules under the rules of origin chapter. Both sides have shown interest in including new areas in the comprehensive trade deal, such as competition policy, micro, small and medium enterprises , gender, innovation, agri-tech, critical minerals, and sports.