Seven years on, still no RCEP trade deal as India holds out

Thailand’s Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said on Monday that “significant progress” had been made on sealing the 16-nation RCEP trade deal, effectively ending hopes that a regional summit would wrap up seven years of negotiations. Earlier, the Chinese deputy vice-foreign minister Le Yucheng had revealed what other leaders only tiptoed around – that India, a major holdout in negotiations on the RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) was not ready to sign up to terms agreed by the…