India, Australia seek to expedite bilateral trade talks

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has held talks with his Australian counterpart Dan Tehan to expedite the bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) negotiations.

According to a statement released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Thursday, the two leaders held talks on December 21 through video conference.

"The ministers appreciated the progress made in various rounds of talks between the chief negotiators of both sides and discussed the way forward for an early conclusion of interim agreement," India's Commerce and Industry Ministry said.

"In this regard, both the ministers appreciated that bilateral trade talks have been very progressive and both the ministers have decided to deepen the engagement and directed the officials to speed up the negotiations to pave the way for a comprehensive agreement," it said.

Both the ministers also pitched for a rules-based international trading system.

( With inputs from ANI )

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