Indian negotiators resolving outstanding issues on RCEP deal to ensure it's fair, transparent: MEA

The Indian negotiators are resolving critical outstanding issues pertaining to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal to ensure it is fair and transparent, the MEA said on Thursday, adding that the country hopes for greater clarity in this regard after the upcoming RCEP summit.

"There are some critical issues that are still outstanding; efforts are being made to resolve them to provide a fair and transparent trading environment. These issues are extremely important for our economy and livelihood of our people," Secretary (East) in Ministry of External Affairs Vijay Thakur Singh said.

"India remains engaged to find a resolution of these issues and we expect that there would be greater clarity in that regard after the ministerial talks & Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) Summit," Singh added.

The remarks came ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Thailand from November 2 to November 4 during which he will take part in the ASEAN-India, East Asia and RCEP summits.

RCEP is a proposed free trade agreement among 10 ASEAN countries, namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos and Vietnam and their six FTA partners China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.