India not seeking membership in TPP, TTIP: Nirmala Sitharaman

India has not sought membership in either of the two mega trade deals, Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic, the government informed Parliament today.

"The government has not sought for membership of either the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) or Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)", Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.

However, the government is continuously monitoring the developments with regard to the two trade deals in close consultation with industry stakeholders, she said.

The TPP is a trade agreement between 12 countries including Australia, Brunei, Chile, Canada, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the US and Vietnam. TTIP is under negotiations between the European Union and the US.

The TPP agreement has been concluded but is not yet ratified for implementation by the participating countries.

In a separate reply, she said the government has not received any proposal from the US to join the TPP.

As per 2014 statistics of the WTO, the TPP countries account for 22.5 per cent of global trade in goods and commercial services.

"The government has not taken any decision to join the TPP", she added.