India has decided not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) agreement as its key concerns have not been addressed, government sources said.
They said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi stood firm as India's key concerns were not addressed. The sources said there will no compromise on the country's core interests and RCEP agreement does not reflect its original intent and the outcome is not fair or balanced.
The key issues include- inadequate protection against import surge, insufficient differential with China, possible circumvention of rules of origin, the base year remaining as 2014 and no credible assurances on market access and non-tariff barriers.
India not signing the free trade agreement between ten ASEAN states and its six FTA partners is a big win for the Congress as well as the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). In what is a rare occurrence, these two groups with vastly different ideologies were on the same page for once. Both were against India signing the agreement, with even the sarsangchalak of the RSS, Mohan Bhagwat cautioning against rushing into the deal and promoting swadeshi in his annual Dussehra address.
An affiliate of the RSS, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch had also announced a 10-day nationwide protest against the proposed deal.
The Congress also made its displeasure known with Rahul Gandhi saying that, if RCEP is signed, it will result in millions losing their job and crippling of the Indian economy. Workers of the Karnataka Kisan Congress, led by State Congress working president Eshwar Khandre took out a rally from Congress office to Cantonment railway station. Khandre said that RCEP was targeting the farmers and the Central government was out to completely destroy India’s economy.
---with inputs from ANI
