It elevates Australia to the status of being among the richest nations in the world, outside of minor nations like Singapore and Luxembourg. India has long piqued Australia’s interest due to its projected 7% economic growth.
It makes sense that the prime minister of India, Narendra Modi, and his counterpart from Australia, Antony Albanese, are putting their focus on strengthening the economic aspects of their burgeoning relationship.
The two big Indo-Pacific nations’ trade contributions are minuscule. Just Rs 65,594 crore ($8 billion) of Indian goods were exported to Australia in 2022, compared to Rs 1.31 lakh crore ($16 billion) in imports. Both are discovering that they have a China addiction that is difficult to break in the post-Covid-19 world and with the shifting global geopolitics.
Source: Deccan Herald
Australia exported goods of Rs 11 lakh crore ($142 billion) to China in 2022, while it imported goods worth Rs 6.3 lakh crore ($78 billion) from China. India imported Rs 9.7 lakh crore ($118.5 billion) while exporting Rs 1.3 lakh crore ($17 billion) to China. The main goal of Albanese’s visit is to develop bilateral trade in order to at least partially balance the China trade between Canberra and New Delhi. This has been an ongoing development.
The agreement on rare earth minerals, in which Australia is a leader and India is in the exploring stage, has been signed by Australia and India. Both nations are working to break China’s stranglehold on key essential rare earths.
The recent discovery of lithium in India may reduce that country’s reliance on imports, but Australia is still vital for other rare earths, such as cobalt. Security Framework. The visit therefore progressed gradually.
Source: ABC News (Australia)
The distance between the two countries keeps the ties in shambles. There isn’t much that connects the common people in the separate nations but cricket. When and when Australia opens up to more Indians, this could alter. Because Australia typically follows US policy in crucial areas, New Delhi views its foreign policy with Australia as a subset of its approach to Washington. Hence, governing Canberra is seen as managing Washington.
India is not one of Australia’s top 15 trading partners, despite Australia’s belief in India’s economic potential and market size. A lot more needs to come together for these two Prime Ministers’ friendship to really blossom, even as they formalise their summit into an annual event.
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