India on Monday decided against joining the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) trade deal, holding that it did not receive any “credible assurance on market access and non-tariff barriers

The other 15 members, however, decided to go ahead and sign the trade deal sometime next year, keeping the door open for India to join at a later date.

Negotiations for RCEP, which includes 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and six free trade partners—China, India, South Korea, Japan, New Zealand and Australia—began in 2012. Indian industry was, however, apprehensive that the deal would lead to a surge in cheap imports from China with which India already has a trade deficit of over $50 billion.

India was unlikely to gain any major market access to China even if Beijing substantially reduces its tariff levels, as New Delhi has not negotiated non-tariff barriers with RCEP members, especially China. The dairy sector was also opposed to the deal as it feared cheaper imports of skimmed milk powder from New Zealand would harm marginal dairy farmers in India.

The proposed deal took a political turn as farmer organizations, trade unions, the Swadeshi Jagran Manch affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and political parties including the Congress openly protested the RCEP deal, making it difficult for the government to find a middle ground.

At the third RCEP Summit in Bangkok, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the present form of the agreement does not fully reflect the basic spirit and the agreed guiding principles of RCEP. “It also does not address satisfactorily India’s outstanding issues and concerns. In such a situation, it is not possible for India to join RCEP agreement.”

A joint statement issued by RCEP said the 15 RCEP participating countries except India that have concluded text-based negotiations for all chapters of the deal will begin legal vetting to sign the pact next year. “India has significant outstanding issues, which remain unresolved. All RCEP Participating Countries will work together to resolve these outstanding issues in a mutually satisfactory way. India’s final decision will depend on satisfactory resolution of these issues,” the statement said.