"For India to reach its ambitious economic growth targets, it needs to be integrated into global trade pacts, especially those that drive commerce in the dynamic Asia Pacific region," Mukesh Aghi, president of US India Business Council (USIBC) told PTI after the deal on TPP was announced by the US and 11 other countries yesterday.
"India's exploration of APEC membership, which is currently an informal precursor to TPP membership can unlock India's potential as a global manufacturing hub and deepen its ties with the global economy," Aghi said
In fact USIBC's outgoing Chairman Ajay Banga of MasterCard has been strongly arguing in favour of India joining
TPP.
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"APEC membership would help prepare India to participate in the emerging mega-regional trade arrangements, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP) that will define the future of global trade," Banga and the former Australian Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, wrote in The Wall Street Journal in July.
"On the other hand, if it were to stand outside the negotiations, while other countries entered a regional trade agreement, the Peterson study forecasts export losses of USD 50 billion per year, as trade is diverted away from India," Aghi said.
However Indian officials argue that India is not left out of such international trading agreements.
"If you looking at India being left out. That's not really true," she told a Washington audience when asked about India not being part of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, of which India is not a part.
"We are very actively engaged in ARSEP (Asean Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) which consists of ASEAN and ASEAN FTA countries.
So we actually in ARSEP are moving faster along with other members," Sitharaman said during a panel discussion on India-US economic ties organised by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a top American think tank.