EXCLUSIVE: Korea to sign RCEP pact with or without India

NEW DELHI: On its way to sign Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) pact along with ASEAN bloc, China, Japan, Australia, and New Zealand in November this year, South Korea has asked India to join the flock for signing the pact.

While inviting India for the forthcoming ASEAN meeting to be held in Seoul in March, Korea has said that the rest of the countries are willing to engage with India to address India’s concerns due to which it (India) had opted out of joining mega Free Trade Agreement block last year.

Last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced to pull out of the RCEP pact saying India will not compromise on its core issues. Soon after, Japan too said it would not sign the RCEP deal without India.

“We want India to come back to RCEP. We plan to sign (the pact) in November 2020, and we want India also to join for signing the RCEP,” Han-Koo Yeo, Deputy Minister for Trade Negotiations, South Korea told Asian Community News (ACN) Network in New Delhi on Wednesday.

Han-Koo Yeo along with other senior officials of the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy is in India these days, and they met on Tuesday the Ministry of Commerce and Industry officials in various subjects including RCEP.

“This (if India signs RCEP) will be a great value addition to this 15-member RCEP. Also, there will a good opportunity for India because once this mega FTA is formed, this regional value chain will develop inside this RCEP community,” he said.

The South Korean deputy minister, however, cautioned if India did not join RCEP, its negative impact would be felt in the long run by India as well as other constituent countries.

“If India is left out of this big initiative then in longer-term, maybe if not in next year or 2-3 years you don’t see the difference but it will impact India and other countries in about five years,” said Han-Koo Yeo adding that it will be win-win for India if it joins RCEP.

While commenting on the concerns expressed by India last year, the Korean deputy minister said, “Rest of the countries are willing to engage with India and work together to address those concerns showed by India.”

When asked about the next ASEAN meeting, he said, “We will continue to invite India to join ASEAN meeting. Next March, Korea will host the ASEAN meeting in Seoul. We want India to join but it’s up to India to decide.”

Despite protests from stakeholders like farmers and trade associations, India had been negotiating with the ASEAN and other constituent countries since 2012 as the latter attempted to form the world’s largest free-trade bloc.

All proposed RCEP members together account for 39 percent of global GDP, 30 percent of global trade, 26 percent of global foreign direct investment flows, and 45 percent of the total population.