Piyush Goyal cites China risk in India's RCEP rejection
India chose not to join RCEP, in part because of worries that joining would effectively have meant opening up to China under an FTA.
Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said earlier trade deals gave India access to markets worth about $10 trillion, but a deal with China felt risky, thanks to issues like cheap imports and subsidies that could hurt Indian businesses already dealing with a large trade deficit with China.
India's trade deficit with China $67.1bn
Even without RCEP, India and China are still major trading partners.
In the first six months of the current fiscal year, their trade hit $91.72 billion, but most of that favors China, leaving India with a $67.1 billion deficit.
Recently, both countries' top commerce officials have been talking about ways to fix this imbalance and keep things fair for both sides.