Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Thursday said a free trade deal with India has been put on hold indefinitely as the India's offers "have not been adequate to date."

     Turnbull visited India earlier this week, meeting with business leaders and politicians, including India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi - in the hope of furthering talks about striking a free trade deal between the two nations.

     Turnbull, who returned to Canberra on Thursday following the whirlwind tour of Mumbai and New Delhi, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) that, at this point in time, a free trade agreement was not viable.

     "It may be that the conclusion will be reached that the parties are too far apart to enable a deal to be reached at this time," Turnbull said on Thursday.

     "The fact is that the Indian offers have not been adequate to date. It has got to be a deal worth doing."

     The prime minister said while talks would not stop between India and Australia, it would take time for India to internally review its stance on both free trade and protectionism.

     "The fact is that there hasn't been enough progress, and so what we've agreed to do is to ensure that our negotiators get back to the table and they identify the respective claims so we can see where they're close, where they're far apart, and the issues that they're not addressing.

     "The important thing is that Prime Minister Modi and I have given our prime ministerial direction and leadership and impetus to ensure that the two sides will focus on the 'nitty gritty' of what the free trade agreement would involve.

     "Mr Modi and I want the matter to be resolved and we have a great economic relationship and it's getting stronger all the time and it will grow whether or not there is a free-trade agreement, but it would obviously be enhanced if there was," he said.  Enditem

Source:
courtesy of XINHUA NEWS AGENCY

by Xinhua News Agency

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