India not re-considering to join RCEP pact: Piyush Goyal

India in 2019 decided not to join the mega free trade agreement RCEP as the pact was not addressing its concerns and since then there has been no change in that position, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday. The RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) agreement is being negotiated among 10 ASEAN members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam) and their six free-trade pact partners Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.

In a written reply to the Rajya Sabha, Goyal said that the structure of RCEP did not adequately address the ambitions and concerns of India’s stakeholders.

Due to that, India decided not to join the bloc, in its current form.

Accordingly, during the third RCEP Leaders Summit held on November 4, 2019, in Bangkok, India conveyed its position that current structure of RCEP did not address the outstanding issues and concerns of the country.

“There has been no change in India’s position since then,” Goyal said.

He replied to a question about whether the government is re-considering joining the agreement. The remarks assume significance as in November Niti Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam stated that India should be a part of the RCEP. Goyal also said that India’s imports from China have jumped to USD 101.74 billion in 2023-24 from USD 70.32 billion in 2018-19.

However, exports dipped to USD 16.66 billion in the last fiscal from USD 16.75 billion in 2018-19.

“Most of the goods imported from China are capital goods, intermediate goods and raw materials and are used for meeting the demand of fast-expanding sectors like electronics, telecom and power in India,” he said.