India to protect national interest in RCEP: CIM

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday said that India will look out for its national interest in the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade agreement. “National interest can’t be hijacked by one or two industries… Maximum interests should be protected,” the minister said.

This statement is significant given the apprehension among government departments and industry that a trade deal on the current terms will lead to China dumping goods in India. Another positive development is that the Asean agreed to India’s long-pending demand to review their trade pact with India. Further, he said that India will synchronise its anti-dumping rules with global best practices in the next 10 days to allow such duties to be used to their full extent.