India should join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), a top official at a government think tank said on Thursday, years after the country decided to walk out of the China-backed Asian trade bloc.

       The RCEP is the world's largest trade bloc backed by China and groups 15 Asia-Pacific economies, including Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the 10 member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

       In 2019, India decided to not join the bloc, on the grounds that the deal would hurt its farmers, businesses, workers and consumers.

       "India should be a part of RCEP and CPTPP and become a member," said B V R Subrahmanyam, the CEO of NITI Aayog, a public policy think tank for the government. He said that joining the trade blocs will help India boost its manufacturing base and exports by small and medium firms that constitute 40 per cent of the country's exports.

       The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) is a free trade agreement between 11 countries including Australia, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand and Singapore.

       The CPTPP was signed by the countries in March 2018 and went into effect in December that year.

       More From This Section

       BFSI summit LIVE: Nothing can stop a fund house with a good product from growing, says Radhika Gupta

       SBI economists see Q2 GDP growth slowing down to 6.5% this fiscal

       Rupee hits new low; yet second best performer among Asian currencies

       Cabinet approves PM-Vidyalaxmi to provide aid to meritorious students

       Strong demand revives services PMI in Oct, job creation improves

       He also said India has not benefited much from global companies' efforts to build factories outside China because of India's high tariffs.

       In recent years, many companies have adopted a "China Plus One" strategy to build new manufacturing units outside the People's Republic.

       "I don't think we have captured the China plus one opportunity as much as we could have," he said.

       "Countries like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey, Mexico, have probably benefited more from China plus one than we have."

       India's goods exports during April-September 2024 rose by 1.02 per cent from a year earlier to $213.22 billion.

       (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

       Also Read

       India needs more trade, and being inside RCEP is better than staying out

       World Bank's suggestion to join RCEP based on flawed projections: GTRI

       Premium

       Rediscovering integration: World Bank argument on trade is worth hearing

       Ajit Pawar condemns ally Sadabhau Khot's remarks onuncle Sharad Pawar

       PDP, Peoples' Conference MLAs submit fresh resolution in J-K Assembly