Examine India's approach to regional trade agreements in the backdrop of its non-participation in RCEP, with reference to AITIGA.

India's exit from RCEP at the 2019 Bangkok Summit — on grounds that the pact did not address its outstanding concerns [1] — marked a shift from broad plurilateral integration to calibrated, sector-sensitive bargaining. The ongoing review of the ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement (AITIGA, 2009) is the clearest test of this recalibrated approach.

Why India stepped back from RCEP

• Fear of an import surge, especially from China, absent an automatic trigger safeguard mechanism [1].
• Adverse experience with existing FTAs where the trade deficit widened; demand to shift the tariff base year forward was not conceded [1].
• Sensitivity of agriculture, dairy and MSMEs to deep, near-universal tariff elimination.

The shift visible in AITIGA

• Instead of a new mega-deal, India chose to modernise an existing one: the AITIGA review was launched in September 2022 to make the pact more trade-facilitative [2].
• Focus is on non-tariff issues rather than fresh tariff concessions — of the eight Sub-Committees, the ones convened at the 13th Joint Committee (New Delhi, 6–10 July 2026) were on Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Market Access [3].
• Rules of origin tightening is central, to stop third-country goods entering duty-free through ASEAN — the precise leakage RCEP would have magnified.
• The stakes are real: ASEAN accounts for about 11% of India's global trade, with bilateral trade near USD 128 billion in 2025-26 [3].

The costs of this approach

• Slow progress: the review has run through thirteen Joint Committee rounds, overshooting the 2025 conclusion target [3][4].
• Staying outside RCEP keeps India at the margins of regional value chains even as it deepens ties bilaterally.

India's model is therefore not protectionism but selective, defensively-hedged engagement — depth over breadth. Concluding the AITIGA review within a time-bound calendar, paired with domestic competitiveness reform, would let India secure ASEAN market access on balanced terms and give credible content to the Act East Policy.