Why India's path to RCEP and CPTPP is challenging

The chief executive officer of NITI Aayog, BVR Subrahmanyam, who also served as commerce secretary in the past, recently remarked that India should join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreements, two key mega-free trade agreements (FTAs).

- Prabhash Ranjan

This is a startling comment given the opposition to mega FTAs, particularly the RCEP, in large quarters in India. As a quick background, RCEP is a 15-country FTA that includes the 10 countries from the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and China. India was one of the original negotiating States in the RCEP negotiations. However, it walked out of the deal just days before it was to be finalized. CPTPP is an 11-country FTA including Canada, Japan, and Australia, but without China. CPTPP evolved from the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement that collapsed after the United States (US) pulled out of it under Donald Trump's previous presidency. Recently, the United Kingdom acceded to the CPTPP.

In India, FTAs are often thought of in terms of economics or foreign policy and seldom as international legal instruments. While economists debate on the merits of India acceding to these two FTAs and foreign policy experts assess their geo-economic utility, it is pertinent to understand the international law implications for India.