Tony Abbott has said in view of the increasing arbitrariness of China that there should be a trade agreement between India and Australia as soon as possible.
India-Australia flags
Tony Abbott, Special Trade Envoy of Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, has emphasized on the India-Australia trade deal between India and Australia. He has said that China, Australia’s biggest trading partner, has exploited the goodwill of the West. In an opinion piece written in ‘The Australian’, former Australian PM Abbott argued that India is the world’s emerging democratic superpower and needs to claim its rightful place in world affairs.
In his opinion, Tony Abbott said, ‘The world’s second emerging superpower (China) is becoming more and more combative almost day by day. Therefore, it is in the interest of all that India should take its rightful place among other countries of the world at the earliest. He wrote, ‘Trade deals are political as well as economic. In such a situation, a trade deal between India and Australia will be an important sign of the democratic world moving away from China. It will also promote long-term prosperity between our two countries. Abbott condemned Beijing’s boycott of Australian coal, barley, wine and seafood.
China took advantage of the goodwill of the West
Abbott said that when Australia finalized China’s first trade deal with the G20 economy in 2014, he thought increasing prosperity and greater economic freedom would lead to political liberalization in China. But he warned that now things have changed completely. “China’s power is the result of the free world’s decision to invite a communist dictatorship into the global trade network,” Abbott said. “China has taken advantage of the goodwill and wishful thinking of the West by stealing our technology and undermining our industries,” he said.
India-Australia trade worth $30 billion
Tony Abbott insists Australia needs to go far beyond China. He said, India is a natural partner of Australia. “India and Australia are like-minded democracies whose relations were underdeveloped, at least until Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister of India,” he said. India is Australia’s seventh largest trading partner, with an annual turnover of around $30 billion. However, there are large tariffs on exports between the two countries. Australian wine and wool exports to India are subject to tariffs of up to 150 per cent.
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