With reference to the ‘Trans-Pacific Partnership’, consider the following statements: 1. It is an agreement among all the Pacific Rim countries except China and Russia. 2. It is a strategic alliance for the purpose of maritime security only. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

The TPP is a trade agreement, not a security alliance, and it covered only 12 countries, so both statements fail.

Statement 1 is wrong. The TPP was signed in February 2016 by 12 countries: US, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei. Excluding China and Russia is not the test. Many Pacific Rim economies, including South Korea, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, were also outside it, so it was not an agreement among all Pacific Rim countries.

Statement 2 is wrong. The TPP is a comprehensive free trade and investment agreement covering tariffs, rules of origin, intellectual property, labour and environment standards, and investor-state dispute settlement. Maritime security is not its purpose. Keep it separate from security-oriented groupings such as the Quad or the Malabar exercise.

Why it matters. The TPP was the economic leg of the US rebalance to Asia. For India it raised the question of being left out of mega-regional rule-making, which links to RCEP and India's decision not to join it in 2019. For Mains GS-2 and GS-3, the distinction between trade blocs and security alliances is a standard point.

Changed since the exam year: the US withdrew in January 2017, and the remaining 11 countries signed the CPTPP in March 2018, which came into force in December 2018.

Trap: aspirants see 'Pacific' and 'strategic' and pick statement 2, or assume the membership is 'all major Pacific economies' and accept statement 1.