NEW DELHI, Mar 21: India should ensure that outcomes of the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) negotiations do not curtail its domestic policy options for promoting Atmanirbhar Bharat in sectors such as green products, according to trade experts.
Indo Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) is a US-led initiative with the objective of negotiating rules for tackling 21st century challenges and promoting fair and resilient trade. President Joe Biden launched IPEF in May 2022. It has 14 members.
The 14 IPEF partners represent 40 per cent of global GDP and 28 per cent of global goods and services trade.
The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy, and fair economy (issues like tax and anti-corruption).
The member countries have an option to decide the pillar in which they wish to participate. India has opted out from the trade pillar, while it has joined the remaining three.
International trade expert Abhijit Das said IPEF negotiations are being undertaken in considerable secrecy and very little information about it is available in the public domain.
He said this is different from a typical free trade agreement (FTA) negotiation, where all parties engage in the negotiations on all issues at the negotiating table.
So far, three rounds of negotiations have been held. The last was concluded in Bali on March 19.
Das said the actual implication of the rules under IPEF will depend on the fine print of the final agreement. However, many pointers suggest that IPEF is designed by the US for its own prosperity.
“There is likely to be little in it for the developing country participants,” he said urging Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal to “instruct India’s negotiators to ensure that nothing in the outcome of the IPEF curtails India’s domestic policy options for advancing Atmanirbhar Bharat in sectors of the future, particularly digital economy and green products”.
Earlier, the civil society has also raised concerns at the lack of transparency in the talks of the IPEF.
Another trade expert Biswajit Dhar said the US has done extensive consultations with its corporations to come up with the drafts of IPEF and India should also conduct a detailed stakeholder deliberations on all the subjects involved in the negotiations. (PTI)
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