India misses ‘fast lane of economic recovery’ without RCEP: Chinese media

India has missed the ‘fast lane of economic recovery,’ says Chinese media after the country opted out of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), called the world's biggest free trade deal.

Fifteen Asia-Pacific countries on Sunday signed the world's biggest free trade deal, seen as a huge coup for China in extending its influence. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) includes 10 Southeast Asian economies along with China, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia, with members accounting for around 30 percent of global GDP.

"Under the current global circumstances, the fact the RCEP has been signed after eight years of negotiations brings a ray of light and hope amid the clouds," said Chinese Premier Li Keqiang after the virtual signing.

The signing of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which covers 15 countries and 30 percent of the global economy, undoubtedly offers a driving force for the involved economies to regain growth momentum to struggle out of the COVID-19 mire and win advantages during the post-pandemic era.

However the absence of India, the world second most populous country was felt, as the South Asia country dropped out of RCEP-related talks at the end of 2019.

“With the world's second-largest number of novel coronavirus infections so far, India may miss a new round of regional industrial reconstruction and the fast lane of economic recovery,” Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University wrote in Global Times.

“Citing concerns over the competitiveness of Chinese products, India has been actively trying to cut economic ties with China, and once declared its intention to stay out of all international economic agreements involving China. However, the signing of the RCEP may have left India with less space to carry on with its plan of decoupling from China,” the researcher added.

“The Indian economy has been hit hard by COVID-19 and recorded a record contraction during the April-June quarter of 23.9 percent. According to an IMF estimate, it may shrink 10.3 percent in 2020. Though the RCEP may still leave a chance for India, it will be hard for the nation to reset its direction unless New Delhi clearly realizes that its core interest has been hindered by its skewed strategy,” wrote Qian.