???????? Did you know that the relationship between India and Australia is going from strength to strength?

In early April,?India?and?Australia?signed an interim free trade agreement with an eye on China. Thanks to this, bilateral trade between these two countries is expected to double over the next five years, from around US$27.5 billion in 2021 to around US$50 billion. To achieve such a performance, the agreement will?eliminate tariffs on more than 85% of Australian exports and 95% of Indian exports.

"Australia has a huge volume of trade [with China], and India provides it with an alternative to export its products to more than 1.3 billion consumers." -?Pankaj Jha, professor of strategic affairs, O.P Jindal Global University

It is the latest step in the strategic relationship between these two countries, which are already part of the "Quadrilateral Security Dialogue", popularly known as?Quad, along with Japan and the United States.

Why is it important?

Both Australia and India want to reduce their economic dependence on China and promote a?"free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific". For example, China is Australia's largest trading partner but growing tensions in their political relations have?severely eroded?the bond between the two countries. India, for its part, maintains an active standoff with China over its Himalayan border.

This scenario has made these two countries want to reduce Beijing's presence in their day-to-day life. We have talked about this on?VisualPolitik?and also in previous bulletins:?Xi Jinping's?aggressive and hostile policy towards China’s neighbors is producing a negative result for this country. Far from strengthening its economic and political position, it is weakening it.?Being the "coolest" does not always guarantee you will be the leader. By the way, everything indicates that we could soon see the signing of a?free trade agreement between India and the United States.