Promote trade, boost economic relations: On RCEP, India should move on

India in RCEP tried to do what the US pulled off with TRIPs in the Uruguay round

On Monday, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu met his Chinese counterpart in New Delhi as part of the 11th India-China dialogue on economic relations, trade, science and technology. Beijing has reportedly sought to provide an impetus to talks on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership or RCEP, a giant trade and economic agreement encompassing the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam — as well as Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, besides India and China. Taken together, these countries account for over a quarter of