India-Australia ECTA is a landmark in bilateral relations, will deepen ties

The ratification of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) by the Australian parliament on Tuesday demonstrates India's skill in trade negotiations. The deal sailed smoothly through the Australian parliament, despite the fact that it was negotiated when the Liberal Party was in power and signed on April 2, 2022, and Labour came to power in May. This is salient also because most free trade deals New Delhi has negotiated and entered into have been mostly with South Asian countries and hardly served India's trade interests. Rather, they became counterproductive. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Prime…