Second round of IPEF negotiation to start in India on Wednesday

India has opted out of the trade pillar as broad consensus had not emerged on issues pertaining to labour, environment, digital trade, and public procurement

India is hosting the second round of negotiations of the United States-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) in the national capital starting Wednesday.

There will be negotiations on three of the four pillars under IPEF – supply chain, clean economy, and fair economy. India has decided to stay out of the trade pillar at the moment.

The first negotiating round took place in Australia’s Brisbane in December, which focused on the trade pillar that covered issues, such as trade facilitation, agriculture, services, domestic regulation, transparency, and good regulatory practices.

Fourteen countries, including India and the US, are members of the IPEF