India unsure of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership |
India on Monday said it has reservations on joining the proposed mega free trade agreement called the RCEP as it is concerned over the "protectionist policies" of China that has created a significant trade deficit between the two nations as high as $57 billion in 2018. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or the RCEP is a proposed mega free trade agreement being negotiated among 16 countries including 10-nation ASEAN bloc which includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam and its six trading partners -- India, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. India`s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, speaking during a panel discussion at the inaugural session of India-Singapore Business & Innovation Summit, said India remained concerned over the "unfair" market access to Indian products and the "protectionist policies" of Beijing that have created a significant trade deficit between the two nations. China`s trade deficit with India in 2018, according to official data, climbed to $57.86 billion from $51.72 billion in 2017 in about $95.54 total bilateral trade. Jaishankar said, "The big concerns of India are of course, its relationship with China because we have an enormous trade deficit with China.”
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