India, Australia to hold 1st round of FTA talks in end-July

Melbourne, July 13 (PTI) Australia and India are all set
to hold the first preliminary round of Free Trade Agreement
(FTA) negotiations in India by the end of this month,
according to Australian High Commissioner to India Peter
Varghese.
"Negotiators are currently doing consultations with the
industry, stakeholders and then they will meet at the end of
this month in India," Varghese told PTI here during his
mid-term consular visit.
Varghese stressed that though the two sides were not
naive about the challenges involved in the proposal, there was
a strong expectation that there was something fruitful in
store for the two.
In May this year, Indian Commerce and Industry Minister
Anand Sharma met Australian Trade Minister Craig Emerson in
Canberra, where it was agreed by both sides to start
negotiations on a comprehensive economic cooperation
agreement.
India had already given the green signal to negotiate for
an FTA with the Australian side following the completion of a
feasibility study showing each side would gain more than USD
30 billion over 20 years from lowering barriers.
Australia's trade with India has been growing rapidly,
with exports, dominated by gold and coal, soaring from USD
11.8 billion to USD 20.0 billion in the past two years.
Trade is heavily in Australia's favour, with imports in
the past year of only USD 2.5 billion from India.
The Australian side has been particularly interested in
improving the ability for Australian services firms to operate
in India, while Australian farm producers want improved access
to Indian meat markets.