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Australian Deputy High Commissioner to India, Sara Storey, on Friday said her country is proud that India chose to do Free trade agreement with them and it will definitely boost 'Make in India'.
"We are proud that the government of India chose to do free trade agreement with Australia. Now 96 per cent of Indian goods enter Australia tariff-free and 86 per cent of Australian goods enter India tariff-free. This will support the 'Make in India' Program for competitive Indian goods. We all believe in this relationship and there is so much more that we can do," Storey told ANI. On the bond between the two nations, she added that the relationship has been elevated to strategic and comprehensive partnerships between the 2 countries. Meanwhile, the Australian High Commission in the national capital hosted a special live screening of the ongoing final of the World Test Championship (WTC) at the Oval in London, on Friday. "The World Test Championship Final is showing us excellent competition. We have top-tier teams playing each other," Storey said. Regarding the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations and the deadline set for the negotiations between India and Australia, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, in May, said they are planned in June and July. He said after the launch of the India-Australia ECTA (Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement) recently, the discussions have progressed very well within a short period of time. "All I understand is the next couple of rounds of CECA negotiation is planned for...I think one in June and one in the month of July. You would've noticed and perhaps appreciated the fact that ECTA was only launched very recently and within such a short time, the discussions have progressed from not only full utilisation of the benefits that are available to the business community under ECTA but also to start talking about on how these can further be built upon through comprehensive economic cooperation agreement," Kwatra said during a special press briefing on PM Modi's Australia visit. The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAusECTA) came into effect on December 29, 2022. The ECTA was signed on April 2, 2022, and ratified on November 21, written notifications were exchanged on November 29 and after 30 days, the Agreement came into force. India and Australia implemented an economic cooperation and trade agreement (ECTA) and are now negotiating the expansion of its scope for the CECA. (ANI)
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