Staying out of IPEF's trade pillar: There are two sides to this debate

There is no meeting ground between politics which is looking at the elections this year, and economics, which is looking at the next decade

There's a school of thought that believes that India is trade averse. This notion arises from India's persistent reluctance and refusal to join regional trading arrangements like the Chinese RCEP and now the American IPEF. India had also been a reluctant supporter of WTO. Overall, it has always preferred bilateral agreements. 

Many economists and diplomats think this is a bad approach to trade. An equal number thinks it's a good approach. 

One huge problem in this 35-year-old debate is the absence of specific criteria for judging good and bad. Another has been that the government always sets the terms of