Australia and India Trade and Economic Agreement: Moving the Dial?

On 2 April 2022, Australia and India signed the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (AI ECTA), after more than ten years of negotiations.  In this event, Dr Jeffrey Wilson, one of Australia’s pre-eminent trade and investment policy experts, provides his analysis on the prospects for the new agreement to move the dial in the economic relationship.

Despite strong historical and cultural ties, India has long underperformed as an economic partner for Australia. This has been due to a lack of complementarities between the two economies; differing economic strategies, and the legacy of past business experience.

The Australian Government’s goal is to make India a top three export market by 2035, and third largest destination in Asia for outbound investment. A key driver for this ambition is the risk posed by Australia’s strong reliance on trade with China during an era of geopolitical uncertainty. India provides an opportunity to diversify our trade as the “world’s fastest growing major economy”. But how can this agenda be realised given past experience, and how can we leverage the free trade agreement for developing new economic ties?