India’s foreign policy
India Australia trade pact set to open up opportunities
- The Australian Parliament ratified the Free Trade Agreement with India which will significantly open up opportunities for many Indian business sectors like IT sector, pharmaceutical and textile sector.
- The India – Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (INDAUS ECTA) was actually signed by India with the previous Australian administration under Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
- However the present government under Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese extended the bipartisan support to the agreement which would create a potential for jobs by attracting Australian investments to India and improve the manufacturing in India at a scale to serve the Indian market and the rest of the world from India.
Note
- India – U.A.E. Free Trade Agreement can be compared with the INDAUS ECTA.
- India – U.A.E. FTA was signed on February 18, 2022 and the agreement came into Force on May 1, 2022.
About Australia
- Capital – Canberra
- Currency – Australian dollar
- President – Anthony Albanese
India ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting
- The first India-ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting was held at Siem Riep, Cambodia to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of India-ASEAN relations in 2022.
- The year 2022 has been designated as ASEAN-India Friendship Year.
- The meeting was co-chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence of Cambodia General Tea Banh.
- India made two proposals for expanding the scope and depth of the India ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) defense relations.
- India-ASEAN Initiative for Women in UN Peace Keeping Operations which would underline the importance of women officers in peacekeeping missions for ensuring lasting peace.
- India-ASEAN Initiative on Marine Plastic Pollution which includes channelising of the energy of the youth towards addressing the critical issue of marine pollution.
- The centrality of ASEAN in the Indo Pacific region is the cornerstone of India’s Act East Policy.
About ASEAN
- ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, military, educational, and sociocultural integration between its members and countries in the Asia-Pacific.
- Formation – 8 August 1967 (Bangkok Declaration)
- Secretary-General – Lim Jock Hoi.
- Headquarters – Jakarta, Indonesia
