India has joined Japan on the issue of Arcep. Japan has clearly stated that it will not join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RSEP) without India's participation. Japan made it clear that it would be a part of the RSEP only if the countries involved take care of India's concerns and make it part of the agreement. The announcement was made by Japan ahead of the proposed meeting of the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries on Thursday. This stand of Japan on the RSEP issue is very important for India's economic interests.
Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had distanced himself from RSEP, saying that Indian interests were not taken care of in this. This may cause damage to India's small industries and agriculture sector. However, India talked for a long time on the issue of protecting its domestic trade. After several rounds of talks, the government decided to disassociate itself from this China-led agreement. Now with the arrival of Japan, the possibility of isolation of India in regional trade has been reduced.
After India decided to secede from Arcep, China had said that the remaining 15 countries without India would go ahead with the deal. However, China had also said that the doors of the RSEP should be open for India in future. India and Japan are the two major economies of Asia. In the event of these two countries remaining out of the arsep, fresh questions will also be raised on the success of this agreement.
