We haven’t closed the door on [the RCEP]. The ball is in the court of the countries concerned and whether they make it worth our while

More than two months after India pulled out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar has suggested New Delhi could rethink its decision.
“We haven’t closed the door on [the RCEP]. The ball is in the court of the countries concerned and whether they make it worth our while,” he told the Raisina Dialogue, a three-day conference in the Indian capital organised by the government and the Observer Research Foundation think tank.
The RCEP is a free-trade agreement between 15 nations – the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand.
India had previously been expected to sign up but walked out of negotiations in a shock move in November last year, when the outline of the deal was agreed. At the time New Delhi cited concerns that its economy would suffer from an influx of overseas goods, especially from China.
The minister’s comments could breathe new life into the pact, which has been plagued by doubts since India walked out.
However, Jaishankar said the pact in its present form still did not make economic sense to India.
“The RCEP is, after all, a free-trade agreement and it has to be evaluated on its trade merits, its costs and its benefits. The bottom line was that the offers on the table did not match our requirements.”