<p style="text-align: center;"><img title="1610075049110333.jpg" alt="6.jpg" src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20210108/1610075049110333.jpg"/></p><p>Australia and India both stand to gain from the promise of expanding trade in lithium resources, Canberra&#39;s envoy here Barry O&#39;Farrell on Thursday said, noting that&nbsp;lithium metal-based battery technologies&nbsp;will form the key component of the roll-out of electric and hybrid vehicles.<br/><br/>O&#39;Farrell said in view of the need for Australia to diversify and strengthen its supply chains, and in recognition of India&#39;s drive toward self-sufficiency and the &quot;truly remarkable&quot; growth of its&nbsp;new economy sectors, the timing couldn&#39;t be better for lithium-related trade and investment.<br/><br/>Addressing a session of the Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce on &#39;Lithium: Powering a New Australia-India Partnership&#39;, he said both countries stand to gain from the promise of expanding trade in lithium resources.<br/><br/>&quot;Lithium metal-based battery technologies will form the key component of the push for the roll-out of EV and hybrid vehicle, and Australia and India both stand to gain from the promise of expanding trade in lithium resources,&quot; O&#39;Farrell said.<br/><br/>Noting that Australia is a reliable and cost-competitive supplier of resource and energy commodities, he said the Australian government is fully committed to driving strong outcomes on lithium trade and investment, and on critical minerals more broadly.<br/><br/>&quot;Australia&#39;s resource endowment and our mining capabilities and expertise well place us to support Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi&#39;s ambitions around development of India&#39;s new economy sectors,&quot; he said.<br/><br/>He said this trade in lithium has the backing of the highest levels of leadership.<br/><br/>Noting that COVID-19 has impacted both the Australian and the Indian economies adversely, O&#39;Farrell said it also provides the impetus to develop more resilient and robust supply chains as well as to collaborate in new areas.<br/><br/>&quot;The Australian government is fully committed to driving strong outcomes on lithium trade and investment, and on critical minerals more broadly,&quot; he said.</p>