RCEP To Be Signed Today, Why Did India Separate Itself From It

RCEP to be signed today, know how important is this agreement related to economic partnership, why did India separate itself from it.

The member countries will sign the China-backed Regional Composite Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Sunday.

Through this regional partnership, China’s effort is to increase its dominance in Asian markets and trade.

After nearly eight years of deliberations, a draft related to this partnership has been prepared, which will be signed on Sunday.

According to analysts, it is the world’s largest trade deal in terms of GDP ie trade deal.

Let us know in detail what this trade deal is and how it got started and in what kind of background this discussion has reached here. Also, why India separated itself from the agreement last year.

What is the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP)?

Discussions on this partnership began in 2012 with the ten countries of the ASEAN Group.

These include countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand. India was also supposed to sign the RCEP but withdrew from the partnership last year.

In terms of population, the total population of the countries involved in this deal is 2.1 billion. At the same time, the share of countries involved in the RCEP in the total GDP of the world sits around 30 percent.

This partnership aims to lower tariffs, open trade in various services, and encourage investment so that emerging economies can stand out against other nations of the world.

RCEP also aims to reduce the cost and time of companies. Intellectual property has also been talked about in this agreement, but environmental protection and labor rights are untouched by it.

Rajiv Biswas, head of the Asia-Pacific region at the IHS Market, said, “Further negotiations related to the RCEP may be primarily about the e-commerce sector.”

This is important because China is involved in this agreement on regional partnerships but not the US. Observers say this will reinforce China’s geopolitical ambitions in the region.

Why India separated itself

India separated itself from the deal last year expressing concern that China’s cheap goods would be completely dominated in the country. However, if India feels it can become a part of this block later.

India had raised the issue of market access under this partnership and feared that if China’s cheap goods would dominate the country’s market, India’s domestic producers and manufacturers would be greatly affected.

This apprehension was expressed especially in the textile, dairy, and agriculture sectors.