Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal stated on Saturday that India and Australia have set their sights on expanding trade in critical minerals as part of their efforts to achieve carbon emission reduction goals while simultaneously pursuing a comprehensive trade agreement. Goyal highlighted India's limited availability of critical minerals, contrasting it with Australia's substantial reserves of these minerals, which are essential components in electric vehicle batteries and currently undergo incomplete processing and manufacturing.
After a meeting with Australia's trade and tourism minister, Don Farrell, Goyal shared these insights during a press conference. Farrell also emphasized that critical minerals, alongside space technology and digital sector opportunities, will serve as significant focal points in the intended trade agreement.
Subsequent to a summit held in New Delhi on Friday, where the Prime Ministers of India, Narendra Modi, and Australia, Anthony Albanese, convened, the two countries have expressed their aspirations to finalize an ambitious and all-encompassing trade agreement by the end of this year. The negotiations for this agreement have been ongoing for more than ten years.
This new agreement would build upon the free trade deal
that was mutually agreed upon last year, marking the first such agreement
between India and a developed nation in a decade. Known as the Economic
Cooperation and Trade Agreement, it was put into effect in December, resulting
in the elimination of tariffs on 96% of Indian exports to Australia and 85% of
Australian exports to India.
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