“There is alignment between the Quad FMs,” says Australian Envoy to India

New Delhi [India], May 2 (ANI): High Commissioner of Australia to India, Philip Green, said that there is visible alignment between the four different foreign ministers in Quad, including Australian Foreign Penny Wong and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
Green, in a conversation with ANI, said that India is benefiting from freer trade with Australia five times faster than it is benefiting from trade with the rest of the world.
"There is definitely no risk to the meetings. If there is going to be a Quad meeting--and I assume you are talking about a Quad Foreign Ministers' meeting--you can be assured that we will be there. In fact, there were two very solid meetings of the Quad Foreign Ministers last year, and we are making really good progress. There is a lot of alignment between the four different foreign ministers, including Penny Wong and your Dr. Jaishankar," he said.
Green said that Quad can make a difference which includes things like maritime security, cyber and strategic tech, supporting countries in need.
"I will leave it to them to announce when they will next meet, but I can assure you there is an enormous amount of work going on in the background. We have very high-level alignment and a sense that we need to refine and focus our work around the key areas where the Quad can make a strategic difference to our region. This includes things like maritime security, cyber and strategic tech, supporting countries in need during natural disasters, and economic security, including critical minerals. We have a pretty clear agenda and a high level of alignment, so I am confident we will move forward quickly this year," he said.
Green further said that current geopolitical churn makes the Quad more relevant, and it will be apparent at the next foreign ministers' meeting whenever that would take place.
"I think the trend of deteriorating security circumstances in our region only quickens the need for a focused effort like the Quad, which can work as a complementary partner to the other big multilateral groupings of our region, especially the ASEAN grouping and the South Pacific Forum. Current geopolitical dynamics only make the Quad more relevant, and I am confident that when the foreign ministers next meet, that will be very clear," he said.
When asked about where trade between India and Australia stood, Green said that the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), has now been in place for three years and Indian exports to Australia enters tariff-free.
"Let me first say where we are, because this is really important. Our ECTA agreement has now been in place for three years. From the 1st of January this year, all exports from India to Australia enter Australia entirely duty and tariff-free. There are no exceptions, no asterisks, and no fine print; everything is tariff and duty-free. That is a big step forward after dozens of years where there have always been tariffs," he said.
Green added that India's trade with Australia has increased by 200%.
"Secondly, India and Australia are doing well from this bilateral agreement. Over the past five years, India's trade with the world has expanded by 40%, which sounds good, but India's trade with Australia has expanded by 200%. India is benefiting from freer trade with Australia five times faster than it is benefiting from trade with the rest of the world," he said.
Green added that Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal and Don Farrell, Minister for Trade and Tourism of Australia often talk about the second phase of the agreement.
"You are right to ask where we are with the next phase of the free trade agreement. I can tell you that Mr. Goyal and his counterpart, Don Farrell, talk about this quite frequently and ongoing negotiations are happening," he said.
Green said that India and Australia do not want a quick deal, they want a good deal.
"We need to be realistic that the first phase dealt with the easier issues, while the second phase is dealing with the harder ones. We don't want a quick deal; we want a good deal, and I think the Indian side feels the same. There is a very strong rapport between the chief negotiators, and I have the privilege of engaging with Secretary Agarwal from Commerce very frequently," he said.
Green said that the deal will be important in freeing up the supply chain in critical minerals.
"I am not going to put a timeline on it, but Australia is very keen to bring this to a conclusion. It is not easy, but there are important things we can do, including freeing up the supply chain in critical minerals, which will be crucial for batteries and electric vehicles," he said.
As per a statement by the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (Ind-Aus ECTA) completes four years since its signing today, marking an important milestone in the evolving economic partnership between India and Australia. Since its signing on 2 April 2022, the Agreement has played a pivotal role in enhancing trade flows, fostering industry linkages, and creating new opportunities for businesses, entrepreneurs, and employment in both countries. (ANI)