Indonesia and RCEP: Why India’s withdrawal may pose significant challenges for Indonesia

By Dr Poppy S. Winanti

Envisaged as the world’s largest regional economic cooperation agreement, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) has entered its final stage of negotiations after the countries involved pledged to sign the deal by November this year. However, India’s withdrawal from the agreement will have domestic political implications for Indonesia, as the RCEP coordinator.

Domestically, there are concerns over Indonesia’s economic overdependence on China. India’s involvement in RCEP was hoped to act as a counterbalance. Now, there are fears that the similarities in Indonesia and India’s pluralist societies will evoke similar protectionist attitudes from Indonesia towards RCEP.

Our latest analysis brief by Dr Poppy S. Winanti discusses the impact of India’s withdrawal for Indonesia, and the challenges this could pose for the country’s internal domestic response.