Asian Trade Deal RCEP Will Be World's Largest: Your 5-Point Guide

PM Modi holds discussion with his Thai counterpart Prayut Chan-o-cha.

Bangkok/ New Delhi: Seven years after 10 members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations or ASEAN and the bloc's six trade partners launched negotiations to forge world's biggest trade pact - Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, a key announcement will be made today on the success of agreement, Thailand, one of the ASEAN members, has said. The development came hours after last minute demands raised by India led to late-night discussions alongside the ASEAN summit, which is being hosted by Bangkok.

Here's Your Five-Point Cheat Sheet On Mega Asian Trade Deal RCEP

The RCEP includes 10 members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations and six FTA (free trade agreement) partners of the bloc - China, India, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand. The RCEP bloc would account for a third of global gross domestic product and nearly half the world's population.
In 2012, ASEAN leaders and six partner countries launched the RCEP trade negotiations during the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh. The objective was to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among the member nations of the ASEAN bloc and its partners.
Fresh impetus to complete the RCEP deal, which is backed by Beijing, has come from the US-China trade war that knocked down regional economic growth to its lowest in five years. The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been strongly pushing for quickly sealing the RCEP deal.
Amid concerns of potential flood of Chinese imports, India has been raising the issue of market access as well as protected lists of goods to shield its domestic market.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is on a three-day visit to Thailand, on Saturday said addressing that India's concerns over "unsustainable trade deficits" remained important. "We have put forward reasonable proposals in a clear manner and are engaged in negotiations with sincerity. We would like to see commensurate levels of ambition on services from many of our partners," PM Modi said in an interview to Bangkok Post newspaper.

(With inputs from Reuters, PTI)