 My good friend Indian Trade Minister Paiush Goyal, it's wonderful to join you at this joint press conference following that historic moment when our two Prime Ministers witnessed us signing this historic trade agreement between our two nations. Can I thank you for the way that you have worked so cooperatively over the last seven to eight months to make sure that we have reached this occasion, this historic occasion. Can I also thank our both High Commissioners in our two nations, our Special Envoy from Australia, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott for his efforts in helping us to conclude this agreement and our wonderful negotiating teams. As was remarked throughout the signing ceremony, they have worked into the night, day and night, to make sure that we are here at this moment and to our lead negotiators on both sides. Can I express my special thanks to Armit and Francis for the way that they kept the teams going, kept the teams working and made sure that we're here at this special moment. It's a fantastic agreement for our nations. It's going to enhance our economic partnership. As you've mentioned before, Paiush, its name has a special meaning in Hindu. It's a unity agreement and that says so much about our nations and the future path that our nations are going to take together. Both democracies both believe in the rule of law, both believe in ensuring that we have the type of region that we need to ensure that our economies continue to grow. Open trading rules that make sure that all people can flourish is going to be essential to the Indo-Pacific going forward and this agreement produces that. And it produces across the board. We'll be able to provide the raw materials that help your manufacturing. We'll be able to provide research and development which will help your pharmaceutical industries. You'll be able to provide us with the research and development so that we can grow our IT skills and our IT capabilities. It will mean that we can both advance our manufacturing sectors and in particular it will lead to greater cooperation in the agricultural sphere. We are one of the best, if not the best producers of clean green agriculture. India obviously with 1.4 billion people to feed is also a growing agricultural sector and agricultural market. So there are so many wonderful ways that we're going to be able to cooperate together and this agreement marks the start, I think, of an economic partnership which is going to flourish further and further. I can see two-way trade doubling over the next short period of time based on this agreement today. So it's wonderful to join you on this day which welcomes in the new year in India and I know that it all points to a very, very bright future between our two nations. Thank you. Mr Minister, you're not audible, sir. Hello. Hi, Department of Commerce. This is Tifrat just letting you know that we're not able to hear you over the web at the moment. Thank you. Thank you. They're just hearing you briefly, Pilesh. We can hear you now, sir. Oh, great. Can you hear us, Frances? Thank you so much. Great. My apologies for that technical hitch. My good friend, Minister Dan Tehan, all the friends who have joined us on this auspicious occasion, both virtually and in the room here today. Ladies and gentlemen, namaste. Indeed delighted that we are assembled on this very auspicious day, Gudi Parva, when we celebrate the Hindu New Year. It is believed in India, Dan, that everything started on this day is bound to be a big success and all good things you try to initiate on an auspicious day, when we are also starting our Navratri celebrations. Nine days where all of us pray to the Goddess to give us strength to face adversity and give us confidence to go forward in life. I am sure the coming years and years mark the fulfillment of the dreams and aspirations of over a billion people in India and the millions in Australia. I'm delighted to share with all of you friends that today, under the esteemed presence of Honorable Prime Minister of Australia, Mr. Scott Morrison, and Honorable Prime Minister of India, Mr. Narendra Modi, the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement was signed. This agreement, the Indus-Eta, will be symbolic of the deep unity, cooperation and friendship between two trusted partners, friends, allies. It truly symbolizes not only our eta, our unity, but also our deep bonds between the people of both nations. It's a historic day for India and Australia relations. It is particularly very important for India because it's the first agreement with a large developed economy in the last decade. I'm truly grateful to the leaders of both countries, Australia and India, who have motivated us to complete the agreement in a truly cooperative manner, understanding each other's sensitivities. I cannot but emphasize how much a deep role Minister Tehan has played. I thank him for his whole-hearted support, his understanding and his friendship. My deep sense of appreciation to Mr. Tony Abbott, the former Prime Minister of Australia, who, as the Special Trade Envoy of the Right Honorable Prime Minister Morrison, has also helped facilitate the negotiations faster. I'm grateful to both teams led by Francis and Mr. Amit Yadav for their outstanding round-the-clock work with the time difference in both countries. I doubt there was any day of the week, and more often than not, including the weekends, when we were not engaged, the teams were not engaged late into the Australian hours or occasionally very early into the Indian hours. So truly reflecting our status as natural partners connected by shared values of democracy, the rule of law and transparency, apart from our shared love for cricket, food, movies and tourism. Like two brothers, both nations supported each other during the adverse period of COVID. But I can assure you, friends from the media, that we have miles to go in this relationship, and today marks that important milestone from where I hope this relationship will truly take off. Our trust and reliability between the two friends is deeply reflected also in our geopolitical engagement through the Quad and the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. Indus Ekta covers a wide gamut of trade and commercial relations between the two countries. We are removing trade barriers and opening up plethora of opportunities in both goods and services, which will lead to a doubling of our trade in the near future. Great potential for labour-oriented sectors in India, like textiles, pharmaceuticals, gem and jewelry, leather. Huge potential for engineering goods, the automobile and auto-component sector. Also, an encouragement to our IT industry and the startup ecosystem to look at deeper engagement with Australia. This will also give a leg up to hospitality sector, both in India and Australia, and also help skilled young boys and girls to contribute to each other's economies. We have a number of students who study in Australia, who are working in Australia, and I'm sure this will send a very, very positive message to our students and the Indian diaspora living in Australia. It will also create new opportunities in both countries, help raise the standard of living, bring prosperity to our people and enhance the welfare of our citizens. In fact, by initial estimates, we expect at least a one million job creation in India in the next four to five years. In services also, we have expanded the scope of our bilateral relations. India has offered services and access to services on many sectors to Australia and likewise, very fairly and equitably reciprocated by Australia. A number of new opportunities will open up for Indian chefs and yoga instructors also in the years to come. Post-study work visas for our young boys and girls who are going to Australia are also a part of this agreement, as is our desire to expand mutual cooperation, particularly in the field of education. And going forward, Minister Tehan who's been a former education minister and I have also discussed the possibilities of dual degrees and cooperation between our wonderful educational institutions. Adequate safeguards have been provided for both countries, business persons and a number of new elements have been introduced in this agreement, particularly, for example, in terms of melt and pour to ensure that locally produced steel products go from one country to the other. Access to the pharma industry has been made simpler. Thanks very much to the personal efforts of Minister Tehan which will help us provide very, very high quality medicines to the Australian people at affordable prices thereby bringing down their costs on medical treatment. At the end, I would like to say our work doesn't end here. In fact, it begins today. We will work with all our stakeholders to realise the full potential of this agreement. I shall be visiting Australia next week to talk to the business persons in Australia along with a large business delegation from India to build the bridges and greater economic cooperation between business persons and our diaspora in Australia and in India. I am confident that in this etha, our unity in trade, our unity as good friends, our unity as trusted partners will herald a new era of trade and commercial ties taking this relationship to greater heights. Thank you very much. For those very comprehensive remarks, we'll now start with this question and answer session. First to go Anand Narsimhan from Network 18. Yes, please go ahead. Namaste Minister Goyal and Namaste Minister Tehan. Greetings on this occasion of the Shubhukrut Vikram Samvatsar 2079. It's a very, very important moment because when we say the year of Shubhukrut, it means we are leaving the pain and misery of the pandemic behind and looking at goodness and growth. So let's hope collectively for all of that. But this is a process which has taken nearly a decade for the Indus etha to come about, the economic cooperation and trade agreement. It's coming at a very critical time when Bharat is looking at becoming Atmanilbhar and looking forward to its Amritkala the next 25 years and Australia is looking very keenly to reduce its independence on China and looking towards India. My question to you is, is this an interim agreement or what are the contours? I think this agreement did not take a decade. Discussions that started a decade ago but were aborted when the previous government decided that they would like India to join the RCEP agreement and therefore the bilateral discussions were kept on hold. As you're all aware, because we were not fully convinced and happy with the transparency and openness of certain economies in the RCEP, India decided not to participate in RCEP and it is only in September last year, September last year that both Minister Tehan and I decided to start negotiating the new engagement between the two countries. Our partnership has been going from strength to strength in the last few years. In fact, the current year's data which has just come out for the year ended 31st March 2022 shows our exports to Australia have grown the highest compared to any other country in the last 12 months, showing the deep strength in this relationship. So we are looking forward to taking the same speed of negotiations. At least six months, 30th of September, we launched our negotiations and we are on 2nd of April. And I think it's been a wonderful experience working with Australia. They have provided 100% access to all Indian goods, almost 97% of our trade as soon as this agreement comes into force after the processes are completed on both ends. And the rest over five years, India has also provided significant market access of I believe nearly 85-90% of our trade and a large part of it is immediately as we enter into force. We have also looked at areas of interest between both countries and ensured that market access is provided in those areas of interest. Simultaneously, both countries have been very fair and reasonable in terms of local sensitivities on issues related to trade, related to services and I've truly respected each other's sensitivities and therefore I believe this is a win-win agreement between both countries. Minister Tehan, would you like to say something? Thanks, Paih Wushan. Yes, can I just re-emphasise what you've said? When we met in September last year, negotiations was stalled between our two countries and we had a pull aside for about 15 minutes to discuss where we would go and what we needed to do for our bilateral relationship. That ended up being us enjoying the most wonderful Indian meal over three hours while we discussed what we should do about our bilateral relationship and you and I agreed that we should embark on an interim agreement, an interim economic agreement and what is ensured over the last seven to eight months is that we have put together now an agreement which we will register at the World Trade Organisation. It is a substantial agreement and it's one which will pave the way for our two economies to continue to grow into the future and this document will be a living document. This unity agreement that we've put together will be a living document. What we're going to see is our economies grow together. They're going to integrate together. Their complementarity is there for all to see and now we have the opportunity to make sure that we really benefit from that complementarity and I can see through the years ahead that this agreement will evolve, it will continue to grow and it will continue to ensure that our two economies join together to provide the type of economic environment that the Indo-Pacific region needs at this time. So can I thank you once again for the way that you and your officials have entered into these negotiations for the hard work night and day. I know ourselves we were talking on a daily basis if not a twice a day. At times you were calling me at 2am in the morning and at other times you were calling me at 2am in the morning. But I can say never was a crossword spoken. We always did it with big smiles on our faces. We knew it would be hard but we knew that the outcome would be worth it for both our countries and that very long Indian lunch in September last year has now led to this wonderful agreement that we have before us today and I thank you for that. Next question from Shreya Nandi. Are there some services to be seen getting benefits or being included as a part of the agreement and apart from services, what are the sectors that we see massive benefits from the agreement? Minister Tairan you want to go first? Well I mean I think what we will see is both economies benefit from this agreement in a substantial way. For Australia we will get wonderful access for instance to the wine market in India. When it comes to coal we will be able to send our coal to India now duty free which is also wonderful for our coal producers here in Australia. When it comes to our wool producers we will be able to send Australian wool to India now duty free and we produce the largest wool clip in the world and the best wool. So that will be able to enter India duty free. When it comes to our sheep meat also we will be able to send our sheep meat to India duty free. So these are substantial outcomes but as Minister Goyal mentioned in the services sector as well we've both opened up our economies in 31 key service areas which will benefit both nations and in particular in areas like construction and engineering where we will be able to work together to help our infrastructure needs. We have huge infrastructure investment pipeline here in Australia and we look ready or willing to work with India to help them or help you with your infrastructure needs. So there are benefits across the board when you look at what it means between the movement of people between Australia. We're going to be welcoming Indian backpackers to Australia. We also will be giving post-study work rights to Indian students who get first class honours in the science technology engineering and mathematical fields in the IT fields. So once again that wonderful capability that you have in those areas will help us but also it will enable Australian students to be able to go to India and help you with your needs as well. So there are benefits right across the board when it when it comes to this agreement and what we always set out to do was to make sure that this would underpin both countries economies underpin the complementarity of those economies and ensure that over time it also could continue to grow. As I said before this is a living working document which will continue to see us enhance it and make sure that as our economies grow as they change we can also make sure that this agreement continues to provide that economic unity that we're both looking for. Thank you Minister Tehan. I can only add that this truly is an agreement which is very balanced on the services side. It opens up opportunities in both sides for many many high class sectors where in terms of research and development where in terms of high technology India will stand to gain from Australia's work over many years. We'll stand to gain with many high quality raw materials that Australia sends to India already in a big way. Similarly on services there are very deep arrangements made in this agreement. For example we are looking at mutual recognition agreement between professional bodies and on both sides just like we have for chartered accountants for other sectors and we'll be working over the next 12 months to identify sectors and have mutual recognition agreements between the two countries. They have been kind enough to welcome our yoga instructors and Indian chefs in Australia. A post study work visa between two and four years will be available for Indian students who study well more particularly for our STEM graduates who go from India to Australia and will be able to contribute to the research and development and the educational ecosystem in Australia. I must also mention that this there are over 100,000 Indian students presently living in Australia and studying there. This straight away will benefit many of them or most of them and over the years many more Indian young boys and girls who will be going will stand to benefit. We are also looking at a work and holiday visa arrangement to promote greater exchange on both sides so that we can have greater tourism also and our young boys and girls build the bridges between the two nations. I'm grateful that Australia has agreed to resolve a long pending double taxation agreement arrangement issue which was going on for some time between our IT sector, our Indian IT industry providing high quality, very valuable services to support the Australian economy. That issue has also been finally resolved between the two countries. There are sectoral gains for many sectors, computer related services, professional services like accounting, taxation, architectural services, engineering, integrated engineering, urban planning and landscape architectural services where both countries have high quality professionals who can engage with each other and deepen this relationship. We are looking at greater cooperation in the field of education, audio visual services, research and development, telecommunication, construction, environmental services and both are very conscious of our responsibility towards sustainability. I think we have a lot to learn from the Australians on tourism. They are truly a joy when it comes to the tourism facilities that they have set up and also looks after tourism. I personally, my first visit to Australia many, many years ago as a tourist with two small kids have memorable stories about my journeys there. Of course, I've also paid a lot of parking, a lot of speeding tickets as a tourist in Australia because the roads are so beautiful and you just tended to speed up and landed up with the huge penalties for speeding but a great lesson after that I've never got a single speeding ticket in my life ever. Also, the way they have developed water sports, the way they have developed the whole ecosystem of tourism is something India can hugely benefit considering the large amount of beautiful places in India. So, it's a win-win for both countries and thank you very much Dan for all your support and from your teams. Thank you. James, over to you for the next set of questions. James? Hi, sorry. Oh, hi. Yes, sorry, Arshurini here. So, from Reuters we have Sam McKeefe. Yeah, hi there. Minister, I hope you can hear me. My question is given it's taken several years to get to this point, how long do you expect it to take to execute a full agreement and what do you see as the major challenges to get that done? Well, thanks for the question, Sam. And can I say first of all, really it's taken seven months or eight months to get where we are today. Negotiations were stalled when I went to India in September last year and what we've been able to do in this very short period of time is put together an agreement of such substance that it will be registered with the World Trade Organisation. Now, there is still further conversations and further discussions to be had about where we go into the future with the agreement and we both, both Payush and myself, saw it very much as an interim agreement. So, once we have the agreement implemented, we will then sit down and work out where we need to go from here. But it's going to already lead to an incredible evolving of the India-Australia economic relationship. As Payush mentioned, opportunities in tourism and I was able to sign a tourism MOU with Minister Goyal when I was in India recently, two months ago. We obviously have put a lot of effort into how we market Australia as a tourism destination, our tourism infrastructure. But as a 16-year-old boy, along with my five brothers and sisters and parents, I had the wonderful, wonderful experience of visiting India for five weeks. And the enormous potential for India as a tourism destination knows no bounds. The wonderful welcome and warmth we got from the Indian people at that time when we travelled around India was something which has always stayed with me. As a matter of fact, it's one of the reasons why, as Australia's Trade Minister, I could not be prouder today having signed this agreement because the experiences that I had with my family travelling around India many, many years ago has stayed with me to this day. And it's why I think today is so special for our two nations. So, whether it be in tourism, whether it be in higher education, vocational education, whether it be in the mutual recognition of standards, making sure that our professional bodies can work together and integrate further, making sure that other parts of our economies over time can get the type of market access that has been achieved today, all these things we will continue to work on. And I'm sure if we put the same time and effort into the last seven months, as we do when we seek to finalise this agreement, we'll be able to do it in a very short period of time. Over to you, Paiush. I fully echo Minister Tehan's sentiments. Of course, Minister, you did not mention about your trade journeys in India. When you visited India, you talked to me about it, but I can tell you it's a transformed railway system in India. And the next time you're here, we hope we can take you on a train ride also. But thank you, Sam, for your question. And truly, our belief is there are many other areas, for example, sustainability. There's many areas like digital engagement between the two countries. So we have identified a lot of work for our teams to do. We have identified a lot of potential areas of greater cooperation, as should trusted friends be doing. We are looking at resilient supply chains between the two countries. I've only recently talked to a very large logistics company to see how we can expand direct access through shipping and trans ocean movement of goods becoming faster directly from India to Australia and vice versa. So we have a lot of things to cover, a lot of ground to cover. I'm sure we will work with the same spirit and enthusiasm to cover many more areas of mutual engagement. And we'll do it fast. We have plans to try and conclude it in the same kind of accelerated manner. Soon after this current agreement comes into force, we'll get down to cracking the whip on the next stage to make this a comprehensive economic partnership. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Ministers. Now, John Mayor, please. Thank you. Hello. Can you hear me? Yes, we can hear you, John. Okay. Minister, this agreement comes just as Australia is about to go into an election campaign. Is it the interim agreement and then the negotiations for the full agreement set up in such a way that if you were to change portfolio after the election or if there was a change of government that things would progress. There's been a lot of talk about the personal connection behind the deal. So just wondering if this is secure, if there is a change in circumstances after the Australian election? Look, the relationships between our two countries is bigger and broader than any two individuals. Although this agreement has benefited from the extraordinary relationship that Prime Minister Modi has with Prime Minister Morrison and likewise, the friendship that I've been able to strike up with Minister Goyal over the last 12 to 14 months that I've been Australia's trade minister. But of course, if individuals change, the strength of the economic partnership that we're establishing today won't. And I'm very confident that we will see that partnership continue to evolve under this very important unity agreement that we've signed today. But can I also just make the point that these agreements very much that the basis and foundation of them always is dependent on making sure that you have very, very good working relations. And whether it be our chief negotiators Francis and Amit, they did a wonderful job and they've worked so well and so cooperatively together. Our negotiating teams, whether it be on the services, on the goods, obviously there was negotiating with regards to the double taxation agreement. In all these areas, there was a true spirit of cooperation to make sure that we can get the job done. And as long as those who precede us over time, and I'm hoping I'll be in this portfolio for some time to come yet, that we will be able to build on the special relationship that has been developed in negotiating this agreement. So I have very strong hope. No, no matter who fills our chairs going forward, we'll be able to continue to grow and enhance a relationship and in particular, build on this groundbreaking agreement. Payush. Thank you very much, Dan and John. I can only say that both countries are vibrant democracies at the same time we both believe in continuity in government. So elections will come and go. I think nations survive beyond elections. Our people and the relationship between our people, our government officials working together in this spirit of partnership and engagement. And governments at the political level committed to continuity is what both countries reflect. In fact, my own party came into government in 2014 and I can share with you we never went back on a single decision concluded and finalized by the previous government. So we in India equally believe like Australia that governments work for the benefit of both nations for the people for national interests and decisions are permanent. Thank you. And of course we'll work towards the final agreement together as soon as this one gets entry into force. Thank you. James. Thank you so much. Given the time, Alok, maybe we have time for two more questions on your end and then we might have to call an end to this press conference. Thank you very much. Okay. So the next question from Amrish. What do you want to go at? So can we expect a full present deal between both these countries and what all will include other than this and by when anytime. Well, as I said that this itself is a very substantial agreement. It's no more remain the interim agreement that we had set out to originally finalize. It covers a very, very wide area of goods and services and trade between the two nations. But we both believe there's huge amount of cooperation possible in the digital world, in the startup world, in the field of education, in the field, as I said, of mutual recognition of professional services between the two countries. There's a lot of work we have to do on sustainability. So we have very ambitious plans to grow this relationship. And therefore, as soon as this part comes into force, we'll be working together for a much, much more comprehensive and enhanced trade and commercial partnership. Thank you. Next question, Bani Kanker. Anish, what's the next question is, what's the trade that both the countries want once this comes into force? I will just make one or two comments and I'll request Dan also to supplement. We have about 26, 27 billion US dollars worth of trade currently between the two nations bilaterally. My own sense is this will double at best in five years. And I think if our business persons take interest the way I have seen, the enthusiasm that I've seen in my extensive stakeholder consultation, we've had huge consultations with export promotion councils, industry associations, sectoral engagement with industry, large and small both, seems to suggest that this is going to open up huge opportunities on both sides. And therefore, doubling should not take very long. But you know that I'm a very ambitious person and so is Dan. We are not going to be satisfied with that. We're going to set very, very aggressive targets to expand this relationship to much greater heights in the years to come. Thank you. And like Payush, I can see that this agreement will lead to a doubling of our two-way trade in the coming years. There is no question that that won't happen. And I think it will benefit both nations extraordinarily well. And not only will we see the trade in goods and services double, but that will bring with it an investment partnership that will also benefit both nations. So doubling of two-way trade, enhanced investment as a result, and further economic cooperation, they're all the things we'll see as a result of this agreement. James, any last questions on your side? Sorry. Thanks a lot, but I believe so. If no more questions, I think we can call this press conference to an end. And thank you everyone for attending and have a good day. Thank you. Thank you, Dan. Thank you. All our colleagues from Australia and the media persons from both countries, grateful for your support. And I wish you well, Dan, and looking forward to meeting you next week. Thank you. Namaste. I can't wait to welcome you here in Australia with your delegation, Payush. It will be a wonderful occasion. So thank you very much as well. Thank you.