, || China Led RCEP signed, India says no ||
India will not re-join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on the existing terms as its decision to walk out was primarily to protect the interests of the poor and vulnerable sections, including farmers and the small scale industry, who were threatened by the pact, a senior government official has said.
Allegations that India spoilt the deal by putting in last-minute deal-breaking conditions are far from the truth. Indian negotiators had been consistently raising concerns on key issues including the unintentional market access it would have to provide to Chinese goods because of relaxed rules of origin (ROO). India could not join an agreement where its primary concerns were ignored, a government official told BusinessLine.
Fifteen countries, including the ten-member ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, signed the ambitious RCEP deal, which is a free trade pact covering goods, services and investments, on Sunday, and decided to keep the door open for India, which was to be the sixteenth member of the bloc but had exited the negotiations last year due to differences.
The possibility of India re-joining the talks, however, seems to be a distant proposition as the governments stated policy now will be to avoid joining free trade agreements (FTAs) which turn out to be a trade pact with China by stealth, the official said.
Moreover, Indias trade deficit with RCEP nations increased from $7 billion in 2004 to $78 billion in 2014 while its deficit with China, currently, is more than $50 billion, the official said. The individual FTAs that India has signed with RCEP countries including ones with the ASEAN, South Korea and Japan, too, havent worked out to Indias advantage.
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, || China Led RCEP signed, India says no || India will not re-join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on the existing terms as its decision to walk out was primarily to protect the interests of the poor and vulnerable sections, including farmers and the small scale industry, who were threatened by the pact, a senior government official has said. Allegations that India spoilt the deal by putting in last-minute deal-breaking conditions are far from the truth. Indian negotiators had been consistently raising concerns on key issues including the unintentional market access it would have to provide to Chinese goods because of relaxed rules of origin (ROO). India could not join an agreement where its primary concerns were ignored, a government official told BusinessLine. Fifteen countries, including the ten-member ASEAN, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand, signed the ambitious RCEP deal, which is a free trade pact covering goods, services and investments, on Sunday, and decided to keep the door open for India, which was to be the sixteenth member of the bloc but had exited the negotiations last year due to differences. The possibility of India re-joining the talks, however, seems to be a distant proposition as the governments stated policy now will be to avoid joining free trade agreements (FTAs) which turn out to be a trade pact with China by stealth, the official said. Moreover, Indias trade deficit with RCEP nations increased from $7 billion in 2004 to $78 billion in 2014 while its deficit with China, currently, is more than $50 billion, the official said. The individual FTAs that India has signed with RCEP countries including ones with the ASEAN, South Korea and Japan, too, havent worked out to Indias advantage.