The European Union (EU) is now looking to do more business with India by way of greater investments in Europe as tension with Russia over the Ukraine war and geopolitical concerns with China pose massive challenges to the bloc and the world at large.
China's government says it remains confident it can strike a sweeping trade and security agreement with 10 Pacific Island states despite being forced to shelve its proposed agreement.
Pacific Island countries have agreed not to sign a region-wide trade and security deal with China after a high-level meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and his counterparts from 10 Pacific nations in Fiji.
Except for India and the US, all other nations in IPEF are part of the RCEP rival bloc. India’s aversion to a pact which includes China has geopolitical considerations at its root.
China has put forward plans to dramatically expand security and economic cooperation with South Pacific nations, in what one regional leader called a thinly veiled effort to lock them into "Beijing's orbit"
Unlike traditional FTAs, the IPEF employs a menu-based approach in which countries would launch separate negotiations under the four pillars of the initiative.