Making Indiaʼs Supply Chains More Resilient: A Role for RCEP?

ABSTRACT India withdrew from the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) negotiations in 2019, and significant hurdles remain to it joining the Agreement. This paper explores one potential benefit to India of RCEP membership — enhancing Indiaʼs supply chain resilience. RCEPʼs market access commitments, trade facilitation provisions, and dispute settlement mechanisms can help India better integrate into regional value chains, diversify its import sources and export markets, and contest disruptions caused by other RCEP Parties. RCEPʼs institutional bodies also present opportunities for India to address trade irritants with partners and influence regional rulemaking on trade and supply chains. While Indiaʼs near‐term re‐engagement with RCEP is politically challenging, RCEPʼs potential contribution to Indiaʼs supply chain ambitions could inform the complex risk‐benefit analysis needed when considering RCEP membership.