India and Australia have a tremendous opportunity to boost trade in agriculture and the two countries must work towards removing barriers, Peter Dutton, Australia's Leader of Opposition said on November 2.

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In an exclusive interaction with CNBC-TV18 during his first visit to India as Leader of Opposition, Dutton outlined that critical minerals and defence manufacturing are also areas where both nations could cooperate under the proposed Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA).

India and Australia had signed an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement in December last year under which the nations have decided to give tariff free access to each other’s goods for 85-96% of product lines. The trade gap between India and Australia has come down by 15% since the signing of the ECTA and both sides are now close to concluding talks on the CECA.

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Dutton said that the diaspora and strong people-to-people ties were the basis for the close economic cooperation between the two countries. The Leader of Opposition, who has also served as Minister for Defence, said China's aggression was a cause for concern and cannot be accepted.

"We have a deep trading relationship with China and we want that relationship to grow. But China under Xi is a different China. We have seen Chinese aggression with the Philippines, in the South China sea and land border with India. The common ingredient between India and Australia is that China’s aggressive approach should not be accepted", he said.

Speaking about the Israel-Hamas war, Dutton said the conflict was a test of Western leadership and the West must stand up to Hamas the way it did against Russia in the Ukraine war. "Role of the US has been crucial in sending a message to Iran and Hezbollah. So far the US has been successful in making sure this does not become a regional conflict but one cannot comment on the future", he said.

Also Read: Peter Dutton, Australian opposition leader, sees ECTA as a game-changer for India's critical minerals

(Edited by : Kanishka Sarkar)

First Published:Nov 2, 2023 8:03 AM IST