New Delhi, Jul 31: Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott will visit India early in August to take forward the bilateral economic and trade ties under the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Abbott will meet with Indian ministers and business leaders, according to a statement by the Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism, and Investment Dan Tehan.

“This will be an opportunity to progress Australia’s ambitious agenda to energise and expand our bilateral trade and investment relationship with India,” Tehan said.

In June last year, India and Australia elevated their bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) at a virtual summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

As per the joint statement issued after the summit between the two leaders on June 4, 2020, under the sub-head, ‘Economic cooperation: A More Prosperous Shared Future’, the two sides are committed to encouraging expanded trade and investment flow to the benefit of both the economies.

Both sides are also to “re-engage on a bilateral Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement(CECA), while suitably considering earlier bilateral discussions, where a mutually agreed way forward can be found”.

Tony Abbott served as the 28th Prime Minister of Australia from 2013 to 2015. (UNI)