India’s regionalism efforts remain largely un-coordinated to towards involving into economic co-operations.
India need to involve in such co-operations to take proactive stance in trade agreements.
What are the regional co-operations India is a member?
RCEP -Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership is a proposed free trade agreement between the ten member states of the ASEAN and the six states with which ASEAN has existing free trade agreements.
BIMSTEC - Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation is an international organisation involving a group of countries in South Asia and South East Asia.
BIMSTEC nations are Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal.
SAARC -South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation is an organisations of South Asian countries.
BRICS - It is an Organisation of large economies of NICs (Newly industrialized country) namely Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa.
Apart from these co-operations India also invested a lot of negotiating energy in FTAs with industrialised economies like Japan and the European Union (EU).
What is the present stand of India on economic co-operations?
India’s agreements follow the old model of trade negotiating strategy, i.e. focus on tariffs and try to keep the sectors that are most sensitive out of the tariff reduction schedule.
India is not taking any deeper engagement on technical standards and related barriers of trade facilitation, or on the regulatory aspects.
Issues that define effective market access related to integrated global economy are not being a part of India’s agreements.
Recently India shied away from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) feeling it could not meet its global standards.
It is also unwilling and totally ill-prepared to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP)
India also making a slow progress in the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
India and Singapore are deadlocked in RCEP on the issue of liberalising the movement of natural persons.
What are the areas India need to concentrate?
India need to realise the consensus approach to trade negotiations are over, and the world is moving towards Plurilaterals agreements involving more different nations.
Recently US taken a stand to get back to TPP, India need to make use of this opportunity to get into an economic partnership which involves 40% of global trade.
Apart from participating various multilateral co-operations India must keep its strong hold on its policies and agreements by being an active participant in such co-operations.
India to be major global player of trade, need to eliminate tariffs and other barriers to trade and investment.
India need to move swiftly on trade in services, competition policy, trade facilitation, investment policy, etc.
Indian to promote trade must open its boarders to economic migrants and goods and services from its regional nations.
Source: Business standard
Quick Fact
TPP
In 2005 the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership comprising four countries - Brunei, Chile, New Zealand and Singapore - was signed.
That pact was then expanded and became US-led during the Obama administration.
In 2017, US withdraw from the TPP which made it not enter into force.
CPTPP
It is abbreviated as Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
The CPTPP will incorporate the original TPP agreement, with suspension of a limited number of provisions by maintaining the high standard of the agreement.
CPTPP comprising the 11 original members of TPP, excluding the US.
The nations are Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Brunei, Singapore, Malaysia, Canada, Peru, Chile, Mexico, and Vietnam.
