India and Australia are moving to deepen one of the Indo-Pacific's most closely watched economic partnerships, with Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal saying the two sides are working toward a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement and a bilateral investment treaty that could widen the scope of trade, capital flows and sectoral collaboration.
Speaking virtually at ICAI's first Oceania International Conference 2026 in Australia, Goyal said the two countries had already implemented an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement in 2022, but were now aiming to build on that foundation with a broader and more balanced framework. "Now we have decided to work towards a very balanced, fair and equitable, comprehensive economic cooperation agreement, which will also take our relationship to greater heights. We are working with Australia to have a bilateral investment treaty also," he said.
The remarks point to a significant next phase in India-Australia economic relations, which have accelerated in recent years as both governments seek to diversify supply chains, attract investment and reduce dependence on a narrower set of trading partners. The proposed expansion of the existing pact into a Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement would likely aim to cover a wider range of goods, services, investment protections and regulatory issues than the current arrangement.
Goyal's comments also underscored the strategic logic behind the relationship. Australia, he said, has critical minerals, while India has manufacturing and processing ambitions, creating a natural complementarity between the two economies. Canberra's "patient capital" and New Delhi's "appetite for growth," he said, fit together in a way that could support long-term industrial and commercial cooperation.
That framing is especially relevant as India looks to secure reliable access to minerals essential for clean energy technologies, electronics and advanced manufacturing. Australia, with its resource base and investment capacity, has emerged as a key partner in that effort. For India, the challenge is not only to source materials but also to build domestic capacity to process and add value to them, a goal Goyal explicitly linked to the country's manufacturing ambitions.
The minister also highlighted progress on some of the friction points that have long complicated cross-border business. "We have also sorted out the problem of cross-border taxation that several service providers, particularly the IT companies, were facing," he said, adding that the two countries had also increased engagement on respecting each other's due diligence in order to reduce the compliance burden on businesses and citizens.
Those remarks suggest that the relationship is not being built solely on headline trade numbers, but also on the less visible architecture of rules, tax treatment and regulatory trust that often determines whether companies can actually scale across borders. For India's technology and services firms, the easing of tax-related uncertainty could prove particularly important, given Australia's role as a major market for professional services and digital engagement.
Goyal used the platform to reach beyond policymakers and speak directly to the accounting and business community gathered for the conference. He urged ICAI members to move "from being stewards of capital to architects of innovation and sustainable enterprises" and to become "ambassadors of India-Australia." The appeal reflected a broader effort to enlist professional networks in advancing economic diplomacy, especially in areas where private-sector confidence and institutional trust are as important as formal treaties.
The push for a bilateral investment treaty is also notable because such agreements are often central to giving investors greater certainty over dispute resolution, treatment standards and policy risk. For Australia, a stronger legal framework could support investment into India's expanding economy. For India, it could help attract capital into manufacturing, infrastructure and emerging sectors where long-term financing is critical.
The broader significance of Goyal's message lies in the direction of travel it signals. India and Australia are no longer talking only about trade in the narrow sense; they are now working on a wider economic architecture that includes investment protection, tax coordination, education and critical minerals. If the negotiations advance, the relationship could move from a promising partnership to a more deeply integrated economic corridor with implications for business, industry and supply chains across the Indo-Pacific.