Rejection will protect millions of jobs

New Delhi: India's decision to not join the RCEP deal would safeguard millions of jobs in small-scale enterprises and balance economic interests, as a trade-opening agreement of this scale has far-reaching consequences and may deepen the trade deficit with China, the industry said on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday conveyed India's decision not to join the RCEP deal at a summit meeting of the 16-nation bloc, effectively wrecking its aim to create the world's largest free trade area having half of the world's population.

"For India to capitalise on her strengths, it was imperative to mitigate the rampage caused by duty-free imported goods. With this move, we look forward to creation of more job opportunities in India and overall boosting of economic and investor sentiments."

"For the metal sector, signing RCEP would have resulted in further deepening of India's trade deficit with China and other nations," Jindal Stainless MD Abhyuday Jindal said.