CHALLENGES OF INDO PACIFIC ECONOMIC FRAMEWORK
Across the globe we find that there is proliferation of regional cooperation and free trade agreements, substantially higher than the number of nations that exist today. Amongst them the idea of Indo Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF)has been mooted by US president Biden in October 2021 which took shape in the the QUAD meeting held in Tokyo in 2022.Certainly IPEF is an attempt by USA to address it's shrinking economic activities and clout in East Asia where the economic influence of China has been increasing rapidly. It may be noted here that US is not a part of the Mega regional trade Agreements in Asia like 1.Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and 2.The Comprehensive and Progressive Trans Pacific Economic Partnership (CPTPP ).The launch of IPEF with the help some like minded countries other than China comprised of Australia, Brunei, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand,Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, USA ...