Six years after talks began, leaders of Southeast Asian nations — including India — have pushed back till 2019, an agreement on a pan-Asian free trade deal. Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi met the leaders of the 16 countries that are negotiating a mega free trade agreement at the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in Singapore over a span of two days, they failed to reach a consensus on issues related to e-commerce, competition and investment, though progress was made on several other issues.
"Market access negotiations have advanced substantially, bringing us closer to finalisation next year. We are now at the final stage of negotiations," Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told the meeting of the leaders, adding, "Further prolonging negotiations puts the RCEP at risk of losing credibility and support from our stakeholders."
India and Japan are among the countries with reservations about the pact. Sudhanshu Pandey, an official in Ministry of Commerce, said on Wednesday that India had wanted to see more progress on services, which constitute more than 50 percent of the GDP of most of the RCEP countries.
A statement issued by the Ministry of Commerce pointed out that India has managed to obtain balanced outcomes in the application of the Dispute Settlement Mechanism in both STRACAP and SPS negotiations. However, India showed flexibility on the principle of 'consensus' in the Institutional Provisions Chapter to help its successful conclusion. It was also decided that the negotiators will deliberate further on E-Commerce, Competition and Investment chapters, where consensus could not be reached during this meeting.
At the ministerial negotiations, India was represented by Commerce and Industry minister Suresh Prabhu, which were then followed by the Leaders' Summit.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, meanwhile said that his country will focus on speeding up work on the major new trade pact. After US President Donald Trump walked out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) last year, the Chinese-led RCEP has emerged as a primary mechanism for the countries to forge trade alliances.
WHY HOLD UP?
- They failed to reach a consensus on issues related to e-commerce, competition and investment, though progress was made
- India and Japan among countries with reservations on pact
- India wanted to see more progress on services, which constitute more than 50% of GDP of most of RCEP countries
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