The next meeting of the Supply Chain Council, set up under an agreement of the 14-member IPEF, will be held in December, the commerce ministry said on Monday. The IPEF (Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity) bloc was launched jointly by the US and other partner countries of the Indo-Pacific region on May 23, 2022, in Tokyo. Together, they account for 40 per cent of the world's economic output and 28 per cent of trade. The framework is structured around four pillars relating to trade, supply chains, clean economy and fair economy. India has joined all the pillars except the trade. Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam are members of the bloc. The Supply Chain Resilience Agreement came into effect on February 24. It seeks to strengthen supply chains through engagement among the partner countries. Under this agreement, three institutional bodies have be