Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently announced India’s decision to opt out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but intellectuals believe the country will not be able to remain out of the 16-nation confederation for long.
Participating in a seminar organised by Prajavani and Jnanasarovar International Residential School here on Tuesday, Vishwanath Bhat, an economist and advocate, said India would lose out on the economic front when it is isolated by remaining out of the trade pact.
Mr. Bhat, who is also the State BJP’s economic cell convener, said India had agreed to the RCEP during the tenure of Manmohan Singh as Prime Minister. “Mr. Singh had agreed to the RCEP,” he said, and added that India had participated in several RCEP meetings before Mr. Modi took over in 2014. India had so far forged 13 Free Trade Agreements (FTA) and all of them had been signed during the Congress regime, he said.
Mr. Bhat said India could actually benefit out of the RCEP if the trade agreement was signed on its terms. Regretting that the treaty covered only goods and excludes services, which was India’s strength, Mr. Bhat made out a case for inclusion of services in the trade pact. “The future of India is in the services sector,” he said.
He blamed a section of the country’s corporate sector, which was profiteering from poor quality and high price, for creating a scare of the proposed RCEP.
Mr. Bhat said it was disappointing for India to be surpassed by a small nation like Bangladesh in the textile sector by offering superior quality at lower rates. Hence, he said there was a dire need for innovation based-value addition accompanied by control in prices of the goods in India.
Mr. Bhat said India had not benefited from the ASEAN–India Free Trade Area agreement signed in August 2009 as the country’s trade deficit continued to march ahead. Emphasising the need to increase exports, Mr. Bhat said it could be only through exports that any country could turn into a developed one from a developing country.
Meanwhile, Suresh K.P., agricultural activist and intellectual, who also shared Mr. Bhat’s view that India would have to inevitably sign the RCEP, however, regretted that the Centre did not discuss the trade pact publicly till the Bangkok Summit held earlier this month was nearing.
Speaking at the seminar, he contended that the country was facing the challenges of bringing down the cost and improving the quality of its goods. He regretted the absence of a manufacturing policy in the country. He also lamented the absence of a skill development programme, which was coming in the way of improving the quality of products. The present government had even stopped talking about the growing unemployment in the country, he said.
In contrast, Mr. Suresh referred to the approach of neighbouring China, which made rapid strides in the last 30 years. “They stopped talking about war and invested money in education, health, skill, and infrastructure,” he said, and hoped India too stopped talking about “Mandir, Kashmir, and Pakistan” and focussed on real issues before the country.
The seminar was also attended by writer Devanur Mahadeva, farmers’ leader Badagalpura Nagendra, and chairman of Jnanasarovar International Residential School Sudhakar Shetty.
