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This will be Albanese's first visit to India as Prime Minister. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will pay a state visit to India from March 8-11 to conclude the India-Australia Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) while enhancing bilateral relations. “At the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will pay a state visit to India from March 8-11, 2023. He will be accompanied by Senator Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism, and Madeleine. King, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, along with senior government officials and a high-profile business delegation," read a press release issued by the Department of Foreign Affairs (MEA).
This will be Albanese's first visit to India as Prime Minister. He will arrive in Ahmedabad on March 8, 2023, the day of Holi, and will also visit Mumbai on March 9 before heading to Delhi.
“In Delhi, the Albanian PM will receive a welcoming ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhawan Esplanade on March 10, 2023. PM Modi and Albanian PM will hold annual summit to discuss areas of cooperation under India comprehensive strategic partnership -Australia, as well as regional and global issues of mutual interest," the statement added.
Albanese will also appeal to President Draupadi Murmu.
India and Australia enjoy warm and friendly relations based on shared values and democratic principles. The strategic partnership between the two countries was upgraded to a comprehensive strategic partnership in June 2020, which has been strengthened and deepened through frequent high-level exchanges and increased cross-sector cooperation.
The Albanian Prime Minister's visit is expected to give new impetus to the comprehensive strategic partnership, the statement added.
The two sides will spearhead discussions on a variety of topics, including clean energy, technology, digital commerce, and procurement.
The India-Australia Economic and Trade Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) entered into force on December 29, 2022. Under this agreement, Australia was required to provide duty-free access to India for approximately 96.4% of exports ( per value) from the day the agreement is applied.
India will benefit from preferential market access provided by Australia on 100% of its tariff lines, including all labor intensive sectors of India's export interest such as gemstones and jewellery, textiles, leather, footwear, furniture, food and agriculture. products, engineering products, medical devices and automobiles.
India, on the other hand, will provide preferential access to Australia on more than 70% of its tariff lines, including lines of export interest for Australia, which are mainly raw materials and intermediate products such as coal, minerals and wines.
Earlier, the Australian Prime Minister also stressed the importance of the defense partnership with India.
“I hope to strengthen that as well, as well as security issues. Operation Malabar will of course take place in the next term, which we welcome. We have a lot to say today,” Albanian added.
Malabar, which began as a bilateral exercise, is now one of the pillars of military interoperability for Quad forces.
Exercise Malabar is a naval exercise between the Indian, US and Japanese navies. In recent years, Australia has also participated in the exercise, dubbed the "Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (QUAD)."
The exercise takes place in the Indian Ocean. Depending on the complexity and the missions involved, the exercise lasts from 6 to 14 days at sea.
