Following President Donald Trump’s categorical ‘No’ to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, India is closely watching how things pan out in the days to come. The agreement was with 12 other Pacific-rim countries including Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Canada.

Reacting to Trump’s rejection of the TPP, Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said what the new US administration was doing is probably what they had said they would do during the election campaign. What India can do is only watch as it was not part of the TPP. While the US decision to exit TPP may not directly affect India, it could have ramifications on trade pacts being negotiated by the country such as the RCEP deal with the 10-member ASEAN and five other countries including China and bilateral pacts with Australia and New Zealand, a Commerce Department confided. India will keep a close watch to see how the negotiating strategies of other countries change as an effect of the US walking out of the TPP.

The minister also said India was working on a formal proposal on a pact on Trade Facilitation in Services (TFS) and hoped to submit it at the WTO before the next trade ministers’ meeting in Buenos Aires in December.