India’s objections may delay RCEP till 2020

Modi briefs Asean on Delhi’s concerns

complete “pending the resolution of one” member, which is believed to be India.

Objections by India have dampened all the hopes of finalising the pact in Bangkok, sources said.

The draft said all members were “committed to sign the RCEP” next year in Vietnam, which will take over the Asean chair.

New Delhi is worried that its small businesses will be hard hit by any ■

flood of cheap Chinese goods. Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeated India’s concerns during his talks with Asean leaders on Sunday. Mr Modi said India’s unresolved issues include “meaningful market access for all parties”, according to a diplomat who attended the meeting.

In his address at the annual India-Asean summit, Mr Modi talked about the mutual coordination between India’s vision of the Indo-Pacific and Asean’s outlook for the strategically key region, which has been witnessing growing Chinese assertiveness.

Mr Modi also talked about crossborder terrorism, the spread of violent extremism and the situation in the South China Sea, and underlined the need for greater cooperation between India and Asean to unitedly take on the major challenges facing the region.

“I welcome the mutual coordination of the Indo-Pacific Outlook between India and Asean. India’s Act East Policy is an important part of our Indo-Pacific vision. The Asean is and always will be the heart of our Act East Policy. Integrated, organised and economically developing Asean is in India’s basic interest,” Mr Modi said here on Sunday.

Mr Modi said India was committed to further strengthening its partnership with the Asean through stronger surface, maritime and air connectivity and digital links.

— PTI Devotees offer prayers as toxic foam floats on the surface of the polluted Yamuna river during Chhath Puja at Kalindi Kunj in New Delhi on Sunday.

— AP Prime Minister Narendra Modi laughs as he poses for a group photograph with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (left) and Thailand PM Prayuth Chan-ocha during the Asean-India summit in Nonthaburi, Thailand, on Sunday.