Reference Text
Time Left10:00
Negotiations
on
the
Regional
Comprehensive
Economic
Partnership,
among
16
Asian
and
Pacific
Ocean
countries,
have
entered
a
decisive
phase.
Most
potential
member-countries
of
the
grouping,
that
comprises
the
10
ASEAN
members
and
their
Free
Trade
Agreement
partners,
Australia,
China,
India,
Japan,
New
Zealand
and
Republic
of
Korea,
would
like
to
see
a
agreement>
on
the
trade
deal
by
the
end
of
this
year.
At
a
meeting
in
Singapore,
which
is
driving
the
effort
as
the
current
ASEAN
chair,
countries
which
still
have
issues
with
the
outline
of
the
agreements
reached
so
far
may
be
told
politely
to
step
aside
and
allow
a
smaller
group
to
go
ahead
with
finalising
the
RCEP,
with
the
option
to
join
it
at
a
later
date.
India
is
among
the
countries
that
will
have
to
take
a
call
at
this
point,
and
the
government's
decision
to
set
up
a
group
of
four
ministers
to
advise
Prime
Minister
Narendra
Modi
on
the
path
ahead
indicates
the
seriousness
of
the
situation.
India's
concerns
with
RCEP
negotiations
thus
far
are
manifold,
but
some
have
been
addressed.
The
first
is
the
greater
access
Chinese
goods
will
have
to
the
Indian
market,
a
problem
given
India's
massive
trade
deficit.
To
circumvent
this,
given
that
India
is
the
one
country
that
doesn't
have
an
FTA
with
China,
the
government
has
proposed
a
market
access>
strategy
for
China,
which
others
are
inclined
to
accept.
After
the
Wuhan
summit,
India
and
China
have
made
progress
on
addressing
the
trade
deficit,
with
China
increasing
access
for
Indian
goods
such
as
pharma
and
agricultural
products.
The
second
concern
is
about
demands
by
other
RCEP
countries
for
lower
customs
duties
on
a
number
of
products
and
greater
access
to
the
market
than
India
has
been
willing
to
provide.
On
the
other
hand,
the
more
developed
RCEP
countries
such
as
Australia
and
Singapore
have
been
unwilling
to
accommodate
India's
demands
to
liberalise
their
services
regime
and
allow
freer
mobility
of
Indian
workers.
Naturally,
none
of
this
is
made
easier
by
the
fact
that
some
of
the
RCEP
countries,
including
India,
are
headed
for
elections
next
year,
a
point
where
governments
traditionally
turn
protectionist.
Despite
these
concerns,
the
government
must
take
into
account
the
deeper
strategic
pitfalls
of
either
slowing
down
India's
RCEP
engagement
or
walking
out
of
the
talks
at
this
stage.
Doing
so
would
cut
India
out
of
the
rules-making
process
for
the
RCEP
and
give
China
further
space
in
the
regional
trade
and
security
architecture.
At
a
time
when
the
U.S.
has
broken
from
the
global
concord
on
multilateral
trade
agreements,
an
Indian
walkout
would
endanger
the
united
message
that
RCEP
countries,
which
represent
40%
of
the
global
GDP,
would
wish
to
send