Scott Morrison celebrates India-Australia trade deal in kitchen

AUSTRALIAN prime minister Scott Morrison posted a picture on social media showing him preparing his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi's favourite dish to celebrate a new trade deal with India.

On April 2, India and Australia signed an economic cooperation and trade agreement under which Canberra would provide duty-free access to its market for more than 95 per cent of Indian goods such as textiles, leather, jewellery and sports products.

“To celebrate our new trade agreement with India, the curries I chose to cook for curry night tonight are all from my dear friend Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Gujarat province, including his favourite khichdi,” Morrison posted on his official Instagram handle on Saturday (9).

“Jen, girls and mum all approve,” he said, referring to his family.

The post, along with a picture, has already garnered more than 24,500 likes till Monday (11).

Modi in several interviews has expressed his love for the humble khichdi, a traditional Indian dish made from rice, lentils, vegetables and dollops of ghee and said that he loves to cook it.

This is not the first time that Morrison has taken social media by storm with his culinary skills.

In May 2020, Morrison posted a picture on Twitter of him holding a tray of “ScoMosas,” a fried snack stuffed with potatoes, which he claimed was made from scratch and said: “They're vegetarian and I would have liked to share them with him (Modi).”

“Sunday ScoMosas with mango chutney, all made from scratch – including the chutney!” the Australian prime minister said on Twitter.

The India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement was inked by India commerce and industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Australian minister for trade, tourism and investment Dan Tehan in a virtual ceremony earlier this month, in the presence of Modi and Morrison.

“This is truly a watershed moment for India-Australia relations," Modi had said.

Morrison added that the pact will further deepen Australia's close ties with India.

The agreement will help in taking bilateral trade from $27 billion (£20.73 bn) to $45-50 bn (£34-38 bn) in the next five years, Goyal said.

Australia is the 17th largest trading partner of India, while New Delhi is Canberra's ninth-largest partner.

Bilateral trade in goods and services stood at $27.5 bn (£21.12 bn) in 2021. India's goods exports were worth $6.9 bn (£5.30 bn) and imports aggregated to $15.1 bn (£11.59 bn) in 2021.

(PTI)