India, Nov. 25 -- The chief executive officer of NITI Aayog, BVR Subrahmanyam, who also served as commerce secretary in the past, recently remarked that India should join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) agreements, two key mega-free trade agreements (FTAs). This is a startling comment given the opposition to mega FTAs, particularly the RCEP, in large quarters in India. As a quick background, RCEP is a 15-country FTA that includes the 10 countries from the Association of South East Asian Nations (Asean) and China. India was one of the original negotiating States in the RCEP negotiations. However, it walked out of the deal just days before it was ...