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HomeDiplomacyIndia will not join RCEP trade deal, my conscience won't allow it,...

India will not join RCEP trade deal, my conscience won’t allow it, says PM Modi

PM Narendra Modi made the announcement during his speech at the RCEP Summit in Thailand, saying the agreement did not fully reflect the basic spirit and address India's concerns.

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Bangkok: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that India will not join the mega Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal as negotiations failed to address New Delhi’s “outstanding issues and concerns”.

Prime Minister Modi made the announcement during his speech at the RCEP Summit here, which was attended by several world leaders.

“The present form of the RCEP Agreement does not fully reflect the basic spirit and the agreed guiding principles of the RCEP. It also does not address satisfactorily India’s outstanding issues and concerns. In such a situation, it is not possible for India to join RCEP Agreement,” Modi said.

The RCEP comprises 10 ASEAN nations and six of its FTA (free trade agreement) partners – China, India, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. However, India opted out of the RCEP.


Also read: Signing RCEP will be ‘farmers destruction agreement’, says Priyanka Gandhi


The original RCEP was aiming to facilitate the creation of the biggest free-trade region in the world as the 16-nation grouping is home to 3.6 billion people, or nearly half the world’s population.

India has been forcefully raising the issue of market access as well as protected lists of goods mainly to shield its domestic market as there have been fears that the country may be flooded with cheap Chinese agricultural and industrial products once it signs the deal.

“India stands for greater regional integration as well as for freer trade and adherence to a rule-based international order. India has been pro-actively, constructively and meaningfully engaged in the RCEP negotiations since inception. India has worked for the cherished objective of striking balance, in the spirit of give and take,” the prime minister said.

“Today, when we look around we see during seven years of RCEP negotiations, many things, including the global economic and trade scenarios have changed. We cannot overlook these changes,” he added.

The RCEP negotiations were launched by ASEAN leaders and six other countries during the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in November 2012. The objective of launching RCEP negotiations was to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among the ASEAN member States and its FTA partners.

“When I measure the RCEP Agreement with respect to the interests of all Indians, I do not get a positive answer. Therefore, neither the Talisman of Gandhiji nor my own conscience permit me to join RCEP,” Modi said.

This is not the first time that the Indian government under Prime Minister Modi has demonstrated a strong resolve in matters of international trade and related negotiations. US President Donald Trump who is known for his negotiation skills has himself called Modi a tough negotiator, sources said.

“Gone are the days when Indian negotiators caved-in to pressures from the global powers on trade issues. This time, India played on the front foot, stressing on the need to address India’s concerns over trade deficits and the need for other countries to open their markets to Indian services and investments,” government sources said.

The sources said except India, all 15 RCEP member countries were on board in finalising the deal at Monday’s summit.

On Saturday, the trade ministers from 16 RCEP countries failed to resolve the outstanding issues identified by India, though back-channel talks continued on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit to resolve the sticky issues. – PTI


Also read: RCEP trade pact will move ahead even without India, says China


 

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5 COMMENTS

  1. Modi’s conscience lies with Indian industry/businessmen and crony capitalists who are donors to his party. Under the garb of socialism and protecting the poor, the government fleeces the poor ordinary consumers. Extortionate customs duties, which are taxes on the consumer, ensure that Indians continue to pay high prices for shoddy goods and services. But I guess it is patriotic to enrich India’s inefficient government and industry by impoverishing the ordinary paying consumer.

      • Even the Congress and Gandhi family’s conscience lies with their rich donors. Everybody across the political spectrum pays lip service to the poor, middle class. However in reality their loyalty lies with fat cats who are protected, through extortionate customs taxes and making millions of ordinary Indians pay for it.

  2. Murdabad murdabad socialist Modi murdabad. May the lord of free market capitalism bring unspeakable misery to socialist Modi.

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