Regional comprehensive economic partnership (RCEP) and way forward for India

Abstract

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a free trade agreement (FTA) between 15 member nations of Asia-pacific. These member countries include Australia, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, South Korea, and Thailand. India was also a part of the negotiation which began in 2012, but eventually dropped out in November 2019 on account of various issues to domestic industry and sovereign freedom. The final RCEP agreement was signed on 15th November 2020 in a meeting held virtually due to Covid-19 pandemic. This 15-party alliance is a significant trade block in Asia-Pacific. The member countries in RCEP accounts for 28.70% of Global GDP and are home to 29.65% of global population. They also account for 27.80% of the global trade. These statistics make RCEP one of the most impactful trade block in the world. India’s departure from the negotiations has been received with mixed sentiments by the experts. Considering the size and impact of the block in South East Asia region, we will try to understand the reason and implication of India leaving out from this alliance and will try to assess what should be the way forward.