India opted out of joining the RCEP By Avani

Transcript:India opted out of joining the RCEP By Avani:
India opted out of joining the RCEP By Avani Sasindran WHAT IS THE RCEP? RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) is a free trade agreement between 15 countries, signed on 15 November 2020 in Hanoi, Vietnam (virtually), with the aim of creating an integrated market, and to facilitate easier trading of goods and services between the RCEP members. It was formed and mainly endorsed by China to serve as the Asian counterpart of the TPP(Trans Pacific Partnership) and EU. The RCEP aims to establish a global competitive free market. 2 HISTORY 3 2011: The RCEP was introduced during the 19th ASEAN Summit in Indonesia. 2014 - 2017: Several rounds of negotiation took place. The first RCEP summit was held in 2017 in Philippines. 2020: Last few rounds of negotiation were held. The RCEP was signed in a virtual ceremony on 15 Nov 2020. 2012: Cambodia endorsed framework of RCEP 2013: 1st and 2nd rounds of negotiations take place. 2019: 3rd RCEP summit was held. India opts out of the RCEP. COUNTRIES IN THE RCEP 4 15 countries signed RCEP in 2020: Brunei-Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Viet Nam, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand. $26.2 trillion RCEP countries possess 30% of the global GDP 15 members Largest trade bloc ever - 10 members of ASEAN and 5 other powerful countries 2.2 billion people RCEP countries have 30% of the world’s population 5 Why did India opt out of the RCEP?🌏 India opted out of the RCEP on 4 November 2019 for a variety of reasons. A major one was fears among Indian business owners that joining the RCEP, which would reduce custom duties and tariffs, would increase India’s already rising trade deficit with other countries. Trade deficit refers to the difference between the value of a nation's exports and imports over a certain time period. 6 “We took a call that given the way it is currently, it is not in our interest to enter this agreement because it would have fairly immediate negative consequences for our own economy.” S Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister, India, about why India pulled out of the RCEP 7 1 Absence of “free and balanced pact” & concerns not addressed While India was a part of the RCEP negotiations for a long time, it ended up pulling out of the agreement, stating that the pact would have been harmful to India’s