May 21, 2020: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced India’s decision to quit the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership grouping, which includes the 10 ASEAN nations, in November 2019, and a new deadline for India to consider a new offer on market access expired on May 15, 2020.
May 4, 2020: The India Economic Times reports that 15 countries still trying to finalise the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership have made an offer to India on market access, and asked it to respond by May 15.
April 28, 2020: Senior officials from 15 countries involved in the proposed Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership held a virtual meeting on April 20-24 2020. India did not take part.
March 16, 2020: ASEAN Secretary-General Dato Lim Jock Hoi has reaffirmed that RCEP members intend to sign the agreement in late 2020.
March 11, 2020: ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, a regional network of current and former parliamentarians, has criticised the lack of transparency in RCEP negotiations and called for the released of the RCEP text and for governments to conduct open and inclusive public consultations.
February 4, 2020: A new analysis of the Indian civil society campaign against the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RECP) by GRAIN and the Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers' Movements shares important learnings for social movements across the region. However, they also warn that efforts to bring India back to the negotiating table could mean that the campaign against the RCEP has not yet been fully won.
January 23, 2020: In November 2019 15 governments announced they had concluded the talks for the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), but India withdrew from the negotiations. The target date for signing has now been postponed to November 2020, as other governments ask India to negotiate to re-join.
December 9, 2019: 94 community organisations from Asia Pacific countries demand details of giant RCEP trade deal before signing
December 3, 2019: Japan’s Deputy Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry, Hideki Makihara, has stated that Japan is "not thinking at all" about a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) deal without India, calling into question the future of the deal.
November 20, 2019: Kate Lappin, Asia Pacific Regional Secretary of Public Services International, and Michelle Higelin, Executive Director of ActionAid Australia, have warned of the danger that the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership agreement (RECP) poses to the 1.1 billion women living in RCEP member countries, arguing that “a gender equitable trade policy is possible. But it would look nothing like the RCEP.”