India, Dec. 27 -- A few days ago, India signed a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with New Zealand. Prior to this, India has already signed FTAs with Australia, the United Kingdom (UK), the UAE, the European Free Trade Association, Oman, and others. In international circles, this development is being viewed with some surprise: while India withdrew from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) in November 2019 - an agreement that included both Australia and New Zealand - how has India now gone on to sign separate FTAs with these two countries?

The RCEP was a proposed comprehensive agreement, among 16 countries: the 10 ASEAN nations, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, China, and India. Negotiations on this agreement contin...