Australia and India thank Quad for new free trade deal

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — India and Australia’s trade ministers say a shared security partnership with the United States and Japan has helped them strike a trade deal that Australia hopes will reduce its dependence on exports to China.

Indian Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal is heading a business mission to the Australian cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Perth to explore new opportunities created by the interim deal signed virtually on Saturday.

India views the agreement as a diplomatic coup that deepens its engagement with Australia at a time when it is under pressure to take a stronger stand against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Both countries belong to the security bloc known as the Quad, which also includes the United States and Japan.

The deal is a political win for India as it deepens its engagement with Australia, a partner in the security bloc known as the Quad that also includes the United States and Japan, at a time when New Delhi faces pressure to take a stronger stance against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

For Australia, the deal opens a huge market to exporters before Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s conservative coalition seeks re-election next month. Friction between the Morrison government and Beijing has brought a series of official and unofficial Chinese trade sanctions on Australian exports including coal, beef, seafood, wine and barley.

Trade Minister Dan Tehan said at a joint press conference with Goyal in Melbourne the Australian-Indian bilateral relationship was growing strongly through the Quad.

“Keeping the Indo-Pacific free and open as a place where liberal democracies can flourish is just so, so important,” Tehan said.

Goyal said Morrison and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been at the forefront of bringing like-minded countries...