The government has made the right decision by opting out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), at least for the time being. Agriculture provides employment to almost two-thirds of its population and there were genuine concerns which farmers and the dairy sector raised against such a partnership. Most of them are small and marginal farmers practising subsistence agriculture who, rather than benefiting from exchange of technology, would have been completely devastated. Our star performer, the dairy sector, would also have suffered huge losses. India must continue to put its demands forward, including on stricter point-of-origin rules, to avoid dumping. In the meantime, the government must also promote the agriculture and manufacturing sectors to help them face future challenges from such agreements.
Divya Sharma,
Dehradun, Uttarakhand
