Dr. Jagannath Panda is a Research Fellow and Centre Coordinator for East Asia at the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, New Delhi.
When India walked away from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership in November 2019, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India had "outstanding" concerns with the free trade agreement between the 10 ASEAN nations, China, Japan and others, covering 40% of the world's gross domestic product.