India's decision to not join RCEP was a mistake: Chinese scholars

India's decision to not join RCEP was a "mistake" as it could have provided a great opportunity for New Delhi to open up its investments, according to Chinese scholars. After years of negotiations, India had pulled out of the China-backed mega Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) over unresolved "core concerns", with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying in Bangkok that the proposed deal would have adverse impact on the lives and livelihoods of all Indians.

A high-level think tank delegation of Chinese scholars held an interaction with journalists here and talked about the China-India relations. The event was organised by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi. Responding to a question, Director of China Institute of Fudan University Zhang Weiwei said India's decision to not join RCEP was a "mistake".

"Joining RCEP would have provided a great opportunity for India to open up investments in the country," he said. Zhu Caihao, Professor in Economics and Deputy Director of Institute of Fudan University agreed with Zhang.

"I think it is a pity that India made this decision. Joining RCEP was a great opportunity for India," Zhou said. She said India needs to decide whether joining RCEP would really help it in serving national interest or it would just benefit a few with vested interest.

She further said that joining RCEP would provide three major benefits to India. "First, it would make the local and domestic market more competitive. Secondly, joining RCEP will help India speed up its industrialisation process and thirdly it would benefit India towards Asia-centric development," she said.

Zhu said RCEP is a "whole package" and India should really reconsider. The RCEP negotiations were launched by ASEAN leaders and six other countries during the 21st ASEAN Summit in Phnom Penh in November 2012.

The objective of launching RCEP negotiations was to achieve a modern, comprehensive, high-quality, and mutually beneficial economic partnership agreement among the ASEAN member States and its FTA partners. On China's relations with Pakistan, Lin Minwang, Professor at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University said China wants "a prosperous and stable" Pakistan and the country wants to see peaceful ties between India and Pakistan.