• India should be a part of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and become a member, NITI Aayog CEO BVR Subrahmanyam said.

• Subrahmanyam emphasised that India will have to get into the global value supply chain as 70 per cent of the world’s trade happens through the global supply chain. 

What is the RCEP?

• The RCEP bloc comprises 10 ASEAN group members (Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam) and their five FTA partners — China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. 

• The RCEP negotiations were launched during the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in November 2012. 

• The RCEP economies are home to almost a third of the world’s population.

• The 15 RCEP countries agreed on the terms of the deal in 2019, setting up the path for it to be signed during the summit.

 • These 15 economies cover nearly a third of the global population and about 30 per cent of its global gross domestic product.

• RCEP is projected to add $186 billion to the world economy.

• RCEP is considered as the world’s largest free trade agreement by members’ GDP.

• India pulled out of the RCEP in 2019 after entering negotiations in 2013.

• Notably, RCEP marks the first time China, Japan and South Korea have been brought together under a single trade agreement — a process that has been otherwise marred by historical and diplomatic disputes.

• The RCEP will progressively lower tariffs and aims to counter protectionism, boost investment and allow freer movement of goods within the region.

• The RCEP negotiation includes: trade in goods, trade in services, investment, economic and technical cooperation, intellectual property, competition, dispute settlement, e-commerce, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and other issues.

What is the CPTPP?

• CPTPP is a free trade bloc spanning five continents, made up of Pacific rim countries of Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Japan. 

• The UK will formally join the bloc on December 15, 2024.

• It was initially known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) but was renamed after the United States withdrew from the agreement in January 2017.

• Negotiations for what was then simply the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) began in March 2010 and concluded on October 5, 2015.

Benefits of CPTPP include:

• Elimination of tariffs and reduction in non-tariff barriers in CPTPP export markets.

• Common and transparent trade and investment rules between 11 Asia-Pacific countries, assisting in the reduction of administration costs.

• Rules that encourage SME participation in government procurement opportunities in all CPTPP countries, including the requirement for suppliers to have access to an independent review body when procurement processes do not comply with the rules.

• Commitments addressing a number of ‘21st century’ trade and investment issues, including rules against corruption, reducing unfair competition by state-owned enterprises, and ensuring a liberalised environment for electronic commerce.

• Longer term integration benefits facilitating better access to regional supply chains for goods and services (also known as Global Value Chains).

What does India’s absence mean?

• India can join later and other countries — notably Indonesia and Japan —  have been lobbying it hard to stay. But Prime Minister Narendra Modi was emphatic about rejecting terms the other members agreed.

• While India’s exit devalues the pact, it also removes the single biggest obstacle to its completion, said Anthony Nelson of consultancy Albright Stonebridge.

• India’s biggest concern is a wave of cheap goods from China and elsewhere. For other countries, losing India means they won’t access a market that is notoriously hard to get into, but also they won’t be able to include India as easily in supply chains.

• Supporters of the deal argue that India will lose investment while its consumers will pay more than they should. Southeast Asian countries also see India as a counterweight to China’s growing dominance.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)