NEW DELHI: As 15 countries prepare to sign the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Sunday, the world’s largest free trade bloc, India on Thursday said that it is committed to “deepening our trade relations with Asean”.
MEA’s secretary (east) Riva Ganguly Das said, “Our position is known. As far as India is concerned, we did not join RCEP as it does not address our outstanding issues and concerns.”
In a statement, Malaysia’s international trade and industry minister Mohamed Azmin Ali announced that the 15 nations “have concluded negotiations and will sign the RCEP agreement this Sunday”. According to a news report, membership to the group would not be open for a while, with the exception of India which could join at its will.
India has been a participant in the RCEP negotiations since 2013, but in November 2019, the Modi government pulled out of the last round. India’s decision was a tough call and deliberated at the highest levels of the government. India feared the agreement would become a free trade deal with China through the back door, even through other countries, which is one of the reasons New Delhi is currently reviewing a number of Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) in the region.