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Tenth round of negotiations for a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) was held between India and Australia recently. Both the countries reviewed the progress made so far for a balanced economic cooperation agreement.
The latest round of talks was held from 19-22 August 2024 in Sydney in the areas of Goods, Services, Digital Trade, Government Procurement, Rules of Origin and Agri tech. "Intense discussions were held on each of these tracks bringing in clarity and understanding for convergence in the remaining provisions. The 10th Round was held after a gap of around 5 months from the concluded 9th Round. However intersessional meetings were held between these two rounds to bring in convergence on all these tracks as well as under other remaining tracks," commerce ministry said in a statement on Sunday. The Indian delegation was led by Rajesh Agrawal, the Chief Negotiator and Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce and the Australian delegation was led by Ravi Kewalram, the Chief Negotiator and First Assistant Secretary in DFAT, Australia. India said efforts were made by both sides, keeping in mind the domestic sensitivities for reaching a balanced outcome. "It was decided that given the clear understanding of each other's proposals under the five tracks, track leads from both sides would work out action plan for negotiations through virtual mode intersessionally before the next round, likely to be held in India," the statement said. The Chief Negotiators reviewed the bilateral trade and investment relations between India and Australia and underscored commitment to strengthen and enhance the economic partnership between India and Australia through building up on the positive effects of India-Australia ECTA, which entered into force on 29 December 2022. Both the sides made efforts to ensure that the CECA negotiation delivers meaningful benefits and balanced outcome for both sides. The Indian delegation also visited the University of Sydney and Cicada Innovation Centre to understand the research activities being carried out by Australia in agriculture and agritech. Australia is an important trade and strategic partner of India. Both the countries are part of the 14 country Indo Pacific Economic Forum for Prosperity (IPEF) and Trilateral Supply Chain Resilience Initiative (SCRI) which is expected to strengthen the supply chain resilience in the region. The next Round of India-Australia CECA negotiations is likely to be held in November 2024, the statement added. (ANI)
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