DHAKA: Australia and India have pledged to push for a major free trade deal, as Indian PM Narendra Modi made a rare speech to lawmakers in Canberra.

Australian PM Tony Abbott admitted that bilateral ties - worth A$15bn in 2013, were ‘underdeveloped’, hoping for the new deal in 2015.

Modi said India ‘will be the answer to your search for new economic opportunities’, reports the BBC.

This comes a day after Australia sealed a landmark trade deal with China.

Trade between Australia and China was estimated to be more than A$150bn last year.

After greeting the Indian prime minister on Tuesday, Abbott said, ‘We want to go further and that’s why the next priority for Australia is a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with India’.

BDST: 1508 HRS, NOV 18, 2014