India, Australia to boost crucial area ties
NEW DELHI :
India and Australia on Monday agreed to boost cooperation in crucial areas such as critical minerals and mobility of students and professionals as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison pointed to bilateral ties as a factor of stability in the Indo-Pacific.
The two leaders agreed at their second virtual summit that the two countries should finalize both an early harvest trade deal and a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement (CECA) at the earliest. Australia unveiled investments of Aus$280 million (more than ₹1,500 crore) to drive collaboration in areas such as clean technologies, space, and innovation.
India and Australia, both members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, or Quad, held their first virtual summit in June 2020, when they upgraded ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership. Since then, the two sides have enhanced defence and security cooperation, signing an agreement giving their armed forces mutual access to logistics and bases, and stepped up collaboration on critical and emerging technologies.
“Our relations have made remarkable progress in the last few years. Trade and investment, defence and security, education and innovation, science and technology—we have very close cooperation in all these areas,” Modi said in his opening remarks in Hindi, referring to Morrison as “my dear friend Scott”.
Morrison said the new initiatives unveiled by Australia will build on the existing foundation as the two sides prepare for a post-pandemic world.
A memorandum of understanding signed by India’s Khanij Bidesh India Ltd and Australia’s critical minerals facilitation office will establish a framework for joint investments in Australian projects to mine critical minerals.
“This is an important area for both our countries and this agreement will give us the opportunities to both invest in Australia’s critical minerals sector and get Australian expertise in this area,” foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla told a media briefing after the summit that lasted more than an hour.
India, as a manufacturing hub, needs access to minerals, of which Australia is a repository, he said. “Our investments together in this area would strengthen the resilience of supply chains when it comes to critical minerals,” Shringla said.
Australia has some of the largest reserves of critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and vanadium, crucial to the manufacture of mobile phones, electric cars, solar panels and other hi-tech applications. India is increasingly turning to Australia and other sources to cut its dependence on China, which dominates about 80% of global critical minerals production. India, Australia, and Japan also have a working group on creating resilient supply chains that focuses on critical minerals.
India and Australia also signed a letter of intent to work towards a migration and mobility partnership agreement to benefit students and professionals.
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