Trade integration with Asean an imperative

To enhance the value chain integration process with Asean, Indian policymakers must show more flexibility in regional trade negotiations

With the US withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in early 2017, many had come to believe that mega-regional trade deals had run their course and bilateralism would be the norm thereafter. However, its revival as Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for TPP (CPTPP) by the year-end established continued relevance of mega-regional trade deals, particularly, in the wake of a floundering Doha Development Agenda and a multilateral trading system under threat. The revival of the TPP has also re-introduced competitive pressure on the other major regional trade formation in Asia, namely, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).

The RCEP is a regional