November 22, 2022: Australian Parliament has passed the country's Free trade Agreement (FTA) with India on Tuesday.

 The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese announced this on his official Twitter handle.

This deal is crucial for Australia to diversify its exports from the troubled Chinese market to India and to forge new bilateral trade relations.

The Trade Minister of Australia, Don Farrell said India had demonstrated its commitment to the bilateral economic partnership through the quality of the deal struck.

After the implementation of the trade agreement it shall provide duty-free access to the Australian market for over 6,000 broad sectors of India, including textiles, leather, furniture, jewellery and machinery.

Australia is offering zero-duty access to India for about 96.4% of exports (by value) from day one. This covers many products that currently attract 4-5% customs duty in Australia.

As Australia moves towards a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement, the Committee has noted the importance of improved tariff reductions, greater access to services, and on broader matters like intellectual property, cultural heritage, the environment, and labour rights.

This came after the Australian PM announced his visit to India in March next year. Anthony Albanese made this announcement on the 17th edition of the G20 summit.

He also informed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Australia next year for the Quad Leaders meeting and then he will return to India later in the year for the G20 Summit.