Australia, India move closer to FTA deal

Australia and India are edging ever closer to a historic free trade agreement, according to Australian trade and investment minister Andrew Robb.

A delegation of around 400 Australians recently accompanied Robb to Gujarat, the home state of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, where Robb told News Ltd. the "first round of substantive discussions towards a free trade agreement with India" was held.

Robb was involved in short, but positive talks with Modi, before revealing to The Australian on Monday that the Indian leader "was adamant that the deal is achievable this year".

The news came less than two months after Modi visited Australia for the G20 summit in Brisbane, where both he and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott sought to agree on a free trade deal by the end of 2015.

Such agreements would involve strengthening ties relating to mining investment, clean coal technology, counter terrorism, extending defence cooperation and important extensions to strong education links.

Australia has already invested close to 5.7 billion U.S. dollars in India, who in turn has invested nearly 9 billion dollars back into the Australian economy.

Those figures include 7.7 million dollars worth of Australian goods purchased by India in 2013 alone, with a further 1 billion dollars spent on education in Australia.

Furthermore, according to Robb,"it was obvious at the talks that Modi deeply values the Australian relationship".

A free trade agreement with India will represent another signification coup for the Australian government, following deals with China, Japan and South Korea throughout 2014. Endi