He said that if the trade agreement is concluded by 2022, ”then in the coming years you will see that trade relations will double, and they will double in all areas because the complementarity between our economies is so great.” Although negotiations on a free trade agreement with Australia have been ongoing since 2011, Indian industry`s reluctance to provide better access to agricultural and dairy products and Australia`s refusal to further open its services sector to the free movement of qualified Indian professionals have delayed the outcome of the negotiations. Over the past two years, however, talks have gained momentum. But staying out of free trade agreements is not the solution either, he warned. Take RCEP. ”Joining this deal would have given India the chance to play at the high table and set the rules for the region,” Chakraborty told Al Jazeera. ”If we join 10 years later, we won`t be able to dictate the terms. We will have to accept what has already been decided. The proposed trade agreement would cover, among other things, trade in goods and services and investment. India`s latest trade policy scoreboard is not reassuring; withdrew from the negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP); it has renegotiated a number of its free trade agreements; it has terminated most of its bilateral investment treaties; and it failed to come to an agreement with the United States on a much-vaunted mini-economic deal. Their obstructionist stance in the World Trade Organization has remained unchanged. India hopes to restart negotiations on a free trade agreement with the UK after Brexit in January.

Trade Minister Piyush Goyal said New Delhi hopes to conclude a free trade agreement with the UAE in early 2022. Earlier this year, India and the European Union decided to resume stalled negotiations on a comprehensive trade and investment agreement. Meanwhile, India has also begun talks with Canada on a free trade agreement and plans to conclude one with the Gulf Cooperation Council, a six-member group made up of Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. ”From the conversations I had last night with Minister Goyal and senior members of his team, I am confident (and) they are confident that by the end of the year, or at least very early in the new year, we can close a very good deal for the early harvest that is bigger than smaller,” Abbott said. Early harvest agreements are used to liberalize tariffs on trade in certain goods between two countries or trading blocs before a comprehensive free trade agreement is concluded. ”It was a mistake to stay out of RCEP,” said Pradeep S Mehta, an experienced business analyst who has served on several World Trade Organization advisory boards. ”If the government really changes the course of free trade, it would be welcome. It`s time. Of course, free trade agreements are not necessarily a solution to a country`s trade imbalance. Previous free trade agreements with countries like Japan and Malaysia focused more on goods than services, which are India`s strength, said Debashis Chakraborty, an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade in Calcutta. India and Australia agreed on Thursday to conclude a free trade agreement (FTA) by the end of 2022 with an interim agreement to be finalised by Christmas, Australian Trade, Tourism and Investment Minister Dan Tehan said after a meeting with Trade and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.

However, the final trade deal, which has been pending for several years, will be completed by the end of 2022. Early harvests in trade negotiations are politically attractive, but often difficult to achieve. Professional negotiators prefer the ”one-company” trading model – where nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. This model avoids choosing the market access element to ensure that the maximum margin is maintained to reach a balanced and comprehensive agreement. The interim agreement, or early harvest agreement, he said, ”will cover areas of immediate interest, you could call them the fruit at hand.” Abbott noted that the early harvest agreement would likely address better market access for Australian wines and help improve mobility between the two countries. Facilitating travel for Indian professionals has been a constant request from India in negotiations with Western countries such as Australia, the UK and the US. According to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the value of trade in goods and services between the two countries increased from $13.6 billion in 2007 to $30.4 billion in 2018. Any assessment of India`s trade policy directions must be firmly grounded in reality. The talks with Australia reflect a broader urgency that many experts say has so far failed the Indian government when it comes to agreeing to free trade agreements and a more open global trade regime.

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