Amit Shah hails Modi's decision to not sign RCEP, calls UPA govt weak

After India refused to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the decision is a result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "strong" leadership and "unflinching" resolve to ensure national interest in all circumstances. Amit Shah took to Twitter to support the decision taken by PM Modi. 

Amit Shah called the UPA government "weak"

In another tweet, Amit Shah said, "PM Modi's firm stand over the years of not going ahead with a deal if our interests are not taken care off, is a welcome break from the past, where a weak UPA government ceded precious ground on trade and could not protect the national interest." BJP working president JP Nadda also gave credit to Prime Minister Modi's strong and decisive leadership behind the decision in a series of tweets. 

India refuses to join RCEP

The Centre released an informal press note sharing details on how the move will affect India's farmers, MSMEs, and dairy sector. India believes its decision displays its openness to global competition while boosting India’s service sector. The signing of the RCEP has been deferred to next year. The Centre stated that the threat of circumvention of Rules of Origin due to Tariff Differential, unviability of MFN obligations and no assurance on market access and non-tariff barriers had not been addressed in the agreement. PM Modi, in his address, has stated, "The present form of the RCEP Agreement does not fully reflect the basic spirt and the agreed guiding principles of RCEP. It also does not address satisfactorily India's outstanding issues and concerns In such a situation, it is not possible for India to join the RCEP Agreement."

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What is the RCEP?

The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) is a proposed free trade agreement (FTA) between the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its six FTA partners, launched in 2012. The member nations include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, and the FTA members include China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. The agreement aims at dropping tariffs and duties between the members to allow a free flow of goods and services.

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