BANGKOK: Hardball negotiations to seal a mega deal to create the world’s largest free trade area went down to the wire on Sunday with India holding on to its demand for amicable resolution of market access and tariff related issues.
Diplomats from several countries involved in the negotiations for the long-overdue Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal said they were still hoping for a breakthrough ahead of Monday’s summit meeting among the grouping’s leaders.
If finalised, the RCEP deal will facilitate creation of the biggest free-trade region in the world as the 16-nation grouping is home to 3.6 billion people, or nearly half the world’s population.
On Saturday, the trade ministers from 16 RCEP countries failed to resolve the outstanding issues identified by India, though back-channel talks continued on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit to resolve the sticky issues. (AGENCIES)
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