In November 2019, Indian President Narendra Modi announced that India would be pulling out of negotiations for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), an Asian free trade agreement. In pulling out of the agreement, India cited concerns that the elimination of tariffs pursuant to the agreement would result in goods from other member states flooding the Indian market, which would harm local producers of such goods. The Indian steel, agriculture, and dairy industries have been particularly vocal about the potential risks of the agreement since negotiations began in 2012.
Negotiating parties for the agreement included the 10 ASEAN member states as well as China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and South Korea. These countries have announced their intention to move forward with the agreement, but India's withdrawal is a serious blow to the vision of a pan-Asian free trade region. The nations originally included in the negotiations represent half of the world's population and a third of its GDP.
Indian critics of the decision to withdraw from the negotiations have expressed concern that the government has acted rashly and has only considered the risks of the agreement without taking into account the potential for economic growth that the deal could create.
