According to Dan Tehan, the visiting Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, India and Australia have agreed to include e-commerce in the final free trade deal, which is expected to be signed by the end of next year.

"We talked about e-commerce the day before yesterday. And minister (Piyush) Goyal and I agreed that the final agreement should include an e-commerce chapter "he said at a press conference in this city

By Christmas, the two nations will have an interim or early harvest trade deal, and by the end of 2022, they will have a complete free trade agreement, or Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA). The two parties also agreed to meet in October to discuss offers on the pTEHAN

At a meeting between Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and Tehan on Thursday, the two nations agreed to speed up discussions for the India-Australia CECA.

In response to a question on agriculture, the visiting minister stated that Australia wants to enhance its access to the Indian market in certain areas, "but we also recognise" that there are sensitivities in India that have to be taken into account.

"So it's possible that there are certain sectors where we can use investment, where we can use technology where we can use services to help in terms of developing the relationship in terms of agriculture," he said, adding, "in the end, we want to make this (CECA) a win-win for both nations."

The proposed trade agreement would encompass, among other things, products and services trade, as well as investment.

Last year, bilateral trade between India and Australia topped AUD 24 billion.