India and Australia Push to Speed Up the CECA Trade Deal and Review the ECTA
India's Commerce and Industry Minister met Australia's Minister for Trade and Tourism on the sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting in Milwaukee, United States.
The two sides agreed to speed up talks on the India-Australia Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA), a bigger and deeper trade deal that is still being negotiated.
They discussed working together in pharmaceuticals (medicines), services, investment, agri-tech (technology for farming) and critical minerals (minerals like lithium that are vital for batteries and clean energy).
They also reviewed how well the existing India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) is working, so that Indian businesses make full use of duty-free (tax-free) entry into the Australian market.
India said the two countries are also working towards a bilateral investment treaty, a deal that protects investors from one country who put money into the other.
As per government data, India was Australia's fifth-largest trading partner in 2025, with two-way trade in goods and services worth USD 50.2 billion.
India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA / AI-ECTA)
The India-Australia ECTA is a trade deal that cuts or removes the import taxes (tariffs) that India and Australia charge on each other's goods. It was signed on 2 April 2022 and came into force on 29 December 2022. It is an "early harvest" or interim deal: it gives quick benefits now, while both countries keep negotiating a fuller agreement called the CECA. It was India's first trade deal with a developed country in more than a decade.
The ministers reviewed how much Indian exporters are actually using the ECTA's duty-free access, which became complete for all Indian goods in January 2026. They also agreed to speed up the CECA, which would take the partnership beyond tariffs into services, investment, digital trade and more.
Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and India's Model BIT (2016)
A Bilateral Investment Treaty, or BIT, is an agreement between two countries to protect investors from each country who put money into the other. It promises fair treatment and protection against unfair seizure of property. If a country breaks these promises, the investor can take the matter to international arbitration (a neutral outside tribunal). A trade deal like the ECTA mainly deals with goods and tariffs; a BIT deals with protecting investment.
India and Australia have had no investment treaty since 2017. The new push for a bilateral investment treaty aims to give investors on both sides legal certainty again, which fits with the larger CECA package being negotiated.
- Meeting venue: sidelines of the G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting, Milwaukee (United States)
- India: Australia's 5th-largest trading partner in 2025; two-way trade in goods and services USD 50.2 billion
- FY2024-25: Australia's exports to India about USD 32 billion; imports from India about USD 18 billion
- End-2025 investment stock: Australia in India USD 26.8 billion; India in Australia USD 45.3 billion
- ECTA signed 2 April 2022; in force 29 December 2022; all Indian exports duty-free in Australia from 1 January 2026
- India's ECTA offer: about 70.3% of tariff lines, about 90.6% of Australia's export value
- CECA talks: launched May 2011, suspended September 2015, relaunched 30 September 2021
- Old India-Australia BIT: signed 1999, in force 2000, terminated 23 March 2017
- Areas discussed: pharmaceuticals, services, investment, agri-tech, critical minerals