India Exploring The Option Of Individual Trade Pacts With RCEP Members

Discussions held with Japan, but no commitment from Tokyo, says official

- Amiti Sen

India is looking at the possibility of entering into individual free-trade pacts with some member-countries that are negotiating the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) as getting back into talks with the entire bloc remains a difficult proposition given the presence of China, a government official said.

“The idea of getting into RCEP-type agreements with some individual member countries is being considered by India but a final decision is yet to be taken. Discussions have been held with some countries like Japan and South Korea,” the official told BusinessLine.