India keen on FTA with Australia
According to The Australian, Minister Kamal Nath would like India to conclude an FTA with Australia by 2010. India and Australia are carrying out a joint feasibility study for an FTA. Here’s an extract from this report:
In an interview with The Australian, Mr Nath said that because the Indian and Australian economies were so complementary, an FTA should be relatively easy to achieve.
He believed it should cover trade in merchandise and services and two-way investment.
“We should try and conclude it by mid-2010, or even by the end of next year,” Mr Nath said.
India also wants Australian Uranium for its civil nuclear energy program and Nath touched on this issue as well.
Mr Nath also wants Australia to sell uranium to India, although the Rudd Government has reversed Howard government policy and said it will not sell uranium to India, even if India completes its nuclear energy deal with the US and wins approval for this from the International Atomic Energy Association.
“We do ask Australia to take a practical and realistic view (of uranium sales),” Mr Nath said.
“Australia is not the only source of uranium for India, but (it should be viewed) in the larger context of global warming and the larger relationship between Indian and Australia.”
And what do we make of this comparison with China. (It always used to be India versus Pakistan and now comparisons with China are common.)
Mr Nath said he wanted a much stronger relationship between India and Australia.
The New Delhi Government is known to believe the Rudd Government is obsessed with China and has an unbalanced foreign policy. Mr Nath would not be drawn on such subjects, but said: “The China story is an old story, while the India story is a new story. China opened up earlier so it obviously got a head start.”
