A Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) would be pointless without India, said Thailand’s Ambassador to India Chutintorn Gongsakdi. His comments assume significance in the context of the 27th round of negotiations on RCEP in Beijing.

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“I don’t want India to feel it is the payoff for everyone, it has to be positive for India as well. If you gain nothing, walk away. When we negotiate FTAs, trade negotiators are taught to think ahead, think of the country’s future and all members of RCEP see India in our future. India is on the rise and it will be the driver of the global economy like China and the US," the envoy told CNBC TV18.

Negotiations on RCEP began in 2012 and some countries like China see India as a roadblock to the conclusion of talks.

A recent article in the South China Morning Post said, “India is widely viewed as the biggest roadblock to concluding RCEP, the first negotiations for which were held in May 2013 in Brunei. Delhi has allegedly opposed opening its domestic markets to tariff-free goods and services, particularly from China, and has also had issues with the rules of origin chapter of RCEP. China is understood to be 'egging on' other members to move forward without India”.

China’s Assistant Commerce Minister has said Beijing would work with all sides to push for completion of negotiations this year.

However, the Thai envoy said that RCEP negotiations would extend to next year.

Gongsakdi said, “What I have heard is that we can announce the conclusion of negotiations on the text of RCEP, and the other half which is the bread and butter, the schedule of commitments or the market access part that can continue next year. If we are able to announce conclusion of the text, that will send out a positive message”.

He also said envoys of Thailand, Indonesia and ASEAN Secretary General recently had a positive meeting with Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal which helped them understand India’s economic predicament. While there was disappointment that Goyal would not be attending the RCEP meeting, there were still more rounds of talks to go, he added.

Indian industry is against concluding the RCEP in its present form as there is a growing worry that it would only lead to more Chinese goods entering the market. At the same time India wants favorable services trade which allows free movement of trained professionals.

The envoy mentioned that other country also had concerns over market access. “One of the things that came up was rules of origin, so even if goods are not coming from China, they could come from China and then be re-exported through other countries as people try to circumvent US restrictions. So we will have to look at rules of origin. India has also raised issues about services and movement of natural persons and how countries use domestic regulations to circumvent market access that they have pledged. These are not just problems for India”, he said.

Gongsakdi said all ASEAN nations were concerned about the US-China trade war, Japan-South Korea tensions and the US sanctions.

“The message coming out of the ASEAN meetings would be that sense should prevail and we should re-invest our time and efforts in the multilateral trading system where everyone is equal under the international trade rules and keep markets open,” he added.

First Published:Aug 1, 2019 9:53 PM IST