India has decided to stay out of the joint declaration on one of the four pillars or the trade pillar of the U.S.-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF), informed Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who was in Los Angeles for the ministerial meet of the framework on Saturday. Besides other reasons for staying on the fence, Mr. Goyal cited concerns over possible discrimination against developing economies.
India was the only one of the 14 IPEF countries, which include South East Asian countries, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan, not to join the trade declaration.
The talks regarding the Economic Framework were launched by the IPEF leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on the sidelines of the Quad Summit in Tokyo in May. The initiative led by United States President Joe Biden with countries in the Indo-Pacific region is trying to bring them on board with the idea of an alternative trading arrangement resting on four pillars- connected economy (digital trade, data flows), resilient economy, clean economy, and fair economy.
