India's new trade pacts with the EU and US, and the big question: Will Delhi revisit its decision to abandon RCEP?

Synopsis: The Straits Times’ senior columnist Ravi Velloor distils 45 years of experience covering the Asian continent, with expert guests.

A flurry of trade agreements announced by India – first, a “mother of all trade deals” FTA with the European Union, and days later, a framework deal with the US that saw Washington slashing its punitive tariffs on Indian exports to levels just below that of Vietnam and Malaysia, involves wider strategic calculations on every side.

In this wide-ranging conversation, host Ravi Velloor speak to Ambassador Jawed Ashraf, Chairman of India Trade Promotion Organisation and former foreign policy aide to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who also served as envoy to Singapore and France, on the thinking behind the deals, India’s newfound confidence to sign on to market-opening agreements, and the chances of India revisiting its decision to abandon the Asean-backed RCEP, or Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

We discuss India’s trade imperatives, the tighter embrace by India of the European Union which is itself adjusting to a multipolar world, and how quality trade agreements help set the stage for foreign direct investment flows and stronger strategic ties. They also discuss the calibrated opening that India is making with China, even as it is not yet ready to revisit entering RCEP.

Highlights (click/tap above)

1:08 India withdrawal from RCEP and focus on bilateral relations

5:15 A greater alignment of trade with geopolitics

8:46 Roots of India’s “self-confidence” to sign trade deals

11:07 What the trade deals mean for ordinary Indians

14:11 EU looks to India, Taiwan in the AI age

18:14 EU-India, and a message to the US

20:53 Did Trump negotiate with a “gun to India’s head”?

24:18 Why stress on defence in US-India trade deal

27:01 RCEP: A calibrated opening is ongoing with China

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Host: Ravi Velloor (velloor@sph.com.sg)

Produced and edited by: Fa’izah Sani

Executive producer: Ernest Luis

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