SINGAPORE - Ms Sulaimah Mahmood recalls with bracing clarity the moment last year when India dropped the bombshell that it would pull out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership .
They turned up at the RCEP Summit the next evening to announce that the agreement was done and dusted.Mr Modi said the RCEP did not address satisfactorily India's outstanding issues and concerns. New Delhi had faced intense domestic opposition to the deal, out of fears that an influx of cheap Chinese goods would decimate its infant industries.
Streamlining the rules India's pullout was just one of the many twists and turns in the RCEP journey that was steered by the 10-member Asean, said Ms Sulaimah.Many have observed that China, being the world's largest trading nation, stands to gain the most from the pact. Dealing with diversity and change At a forum earlier this month, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the 11-member Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership - a partially overlapping arrangement that was concluded two years ago - went for a deep agreement that requires substantial commitments from all parties involved.
He also noted that most countries had difficulty retaining the same set of negotiators for eight long years.
Singapore Latest News, Singapore Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.