Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the trade deal signed between India and Australia last week, saying it will open up fresh opportunities for students, professionals and tourists of the two countries and enable both the sides to better harness existing potential. “This is a watershed moment for our bilateral relations…On the basis of this agreement, together, we will be able to increase the resilience of supply chains, and also contribute to the stability of the Indo-Pacific region,” Modi said.
He was speaking at a virtual ceremony, organised to facilitate the signing of the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (IndAus ECTA). Australian PM Scott Morrison, Indian commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal and his Australian counterpart Dan Tehan were also present at the virtual event.
Modi said the conclusion of the ECTA in a short period (negotiations were revived only on September 30, 2021) points at the depth of mutual confidence between the countries. The agreement, Modi said, will further bolster the “warm and close ties” between the people of the two countries by expanding work, study and travel opportunities, in addition to raising bilateral trade and economic cooperation.
“This agreement opens a big door into the world’s fastest growing major economy for Australian farmers, manufacturers, producers and so many more,” Morrison said. Chefs and yoga teachers can hope to get a quick entry. Students can now stay for up to four years on post-study work visas, and 1,000 millennials who can mix work and pleasure, thousands of Indians are set to get easy access to Australia with the signing of the pact.
This is in addition to opening the doors further for Indian IT professionals and managers who can get up to four year visas, either as contractual workers on an onsite job or as part of intra-company transfers. Besides, mutual recognition agreements for professionals such as nurses and doctors will ensure that the qualifications of Indian medical professionals will be recognised in Australia. “We are planning to finalise these mutual recognition agreements in the next 12 months,” Goyal said.
Government officials described the visa concessions as a major gain for India, something that India has been seeking for years through its agreements with Asean, Japan and South Korea, but did not make sufficient headway. Now, the government intends to use the Australia ECTA as the basis during its trade treaty negotiations with the UK. On their part, the UK and Australia have agreed to a similar dispensation on visas.
The agreement offers massive gains for Indian students in Australia with those pursuing diploma courses eligible for visas of up to 18 months after their programme ends. Similarly, those completing a bachelor’s degree can get up to two years as part of the post-study work visas. And those who complete a master’s programme and doctoral work will get up to three and four years, respectively.
Besides, those in the 18-30 age group can get a “work and holiday” visa for Australia with 1,000 such visas promised annually. India, which doesn’t have such a regime at the moment, has also promised to allow such visas on a reciprocal basis in case it implements a similar programme in the future, a source said.
For corporate and contractual workers, the visa concessions go beyond IT to include engineering, consulting (excluding legal), architectural and accounting.
