RCEP decoded: Why India chose to stay out of Asia's mega free trade pact

Indian business community felt it would be swamped by imports with low duties, which it would not be able to compete with. The govt decided that it cannot afford to take the chance

What happened with the Regional Economic Cooperation Agreement (RCEP)?

Last year, in November, when heads of state of 16 nations (10 ASEAN+6) met at Bangkok to conclude the discussions on RCEP, the expectation about the formation of the regional trade bloc was at its peak. It got punctured to quite an extent when Prime Minister Narendra Modi decided to withdraw from the commitment to sign the RCEP agreement a year later in 2020. Modi made the announcement hours before the leaders were to go on stage to affirm they had concluded the negotiations that had been on since November 2011. On