India At Threshold Of Economic Takeoff. Difficult To See China As Trusted Partner: Tony Abbott

<p><strong>New Delhi: </strong><span style="font-weight: 400;">Australian Prime Minister&rsquo;s Special Trade Envoy and former Prime Minister Tony Abbott said that China has weaponised trade and that it was difficult to see Beijing as a trusted partner. Speaking at a virtual press conference on Friday, Abbott said that India has a unique opportunity to stay ahead in terms of trade.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">During the virtual conference, Abbott said that India has a democracy, the rule of law, and a good understanding of business. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">&ldquo;As an Australian, we have seen the weaponisation of trade. Something like 20 billion dollars worth of Australian trade has been disrupted or suspended by China. It is very difficult to see China as a trusted partner," he said.&nbsp;</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Many countries are having trade issues with China. Seeing this, India is emerging as an option. India is at the threshold of economic takeoff: Tony Abbott, Former Australian PM and Special Trade Envoy of the Prime Minister of Australia</p> &mdash; ANI (@ANI) <a href="https://twitter.com/ANI/status/1466600790433300481?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 3, 2021</a></blockquote> <p> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"India is in a very very different situation, the democracy, the rule of law, a good understanding that business and governments are substantially independent of each other and that the sanctity of contract has to be respected. So this is why I think the difficulties with China, certainly mean that India has quite a unique opportunity to stay particularly with the supply chain that you know need to be absolutely reliable," Abbott added.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He said that he met Union Minister of Commerce and Industries, Piyush Goyal, and held a discussion regarding the Free Trade Agreement.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Commerce and Industries Minister met Tony Abbott on Thursday and discussed ways to expand the bilateral ties.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Taking to Twitter, Goyal wrote, &ldquo;Met with @HonTonyAbbott, Special Trade Envoy of the Prime Minister of Australia. Had an extensive discussion on the huge potential India &amp; Australia have to further energise &amp; expand our bilateral ties through Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for mutual economic prosperity.&rdquo;</span></p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Met with <a href="https://twitter.com/HonTonyAbbott?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HonTonyAbbott</a>, Special Trade Envoy of the Prime Minister of Australia.<br /><br />Had an extensive discussion on the huge potential India &amp; Australia have to further energise &amp; expand our bilateral ties through Free Trade Agreement (FTA) for mutual economic prosperity. 🇮🇳🇦🇺 <a href="https://t.co/lq1LyNGUWg">pic.twitter.com/lq1LyNGUWg</a></p> &mdash; Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) <a href="https://twitter.com/PiyushGoyal/status/1466419962982060032?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 2, 2021</a></blockquote> <p> <script src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" async="" charset="utf-8"></script> </p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">India and Australia made a joint announcement in September this year that the two countries will sign a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement by the end of 2022 and an early harvest trade deal by later this year around Christmas.&nbsp;</span></p>