Not joining RCEP in national interest: Goyal

New Delhi: India stood its ground at RCEP negotiations and in the national interest decided not to join the China-led mega trade pact, said Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference a day after conclusion of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) summit in Bangkok, Goyal said Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a tough stand to protect the interest of the dairy sector, farmers and domestic industry.

The minister also hit out at the Congress party for criticising the government, saying it was the Manmohan Singh government that had initiated the discussions for making India part of the RCEP grouping, ignoring the fact that it had huge trade deficit with the member nations.

The trade deficit with the RCEP grouping soared from $7 billion in 2004 to $78 billion in 2014.