New Delhi, July 15:
The government on Tuesday said that the first round of negotiations for the India-Maldives Free Trade Agreement (FTA) have been concluded successfully towards expanding bilateral trade and investment engagement. India is the second-largest trading partner of the Maldives.
Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at $771.76 million in 2025–26, compared to $679.70 million in 2024–25, registering a growth of 13.54 per cent. According to a Commerce Ministry statement, negotiating teams from both sides engaged in text-based discussions across eight technical sessions, covering eight policy areas.
Both sides made substantive progress across the negotiating tracks and reached broad convergence on several issues, the statement added. India’s negotiating team was led by Chief Negotiator Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, while the Maldives delegation was led by its Chief Negotiator Yusuf Riza.
Last week, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met his Maldivian counterpart, Mohamed Saeed, Minister of Economic Development, Transport and Trade of the Maldives. According to an official statement, the ministers reviewed the progress of ongoing bilateral economic initiatives, including the India–Maldives FTA negotiations.
As India and the Maldives commemorate 60 years of diplomatic relations, both sides reaffirmed their commitment to expedite the conclusion of the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and the Free Trade Agreement (FTA). They also agreed to further deepen cooperation in tourism, startups, digital payments, MSMEs and trade to unlock new opportunities for both countries.
According to the ministry, the proposed FTA is expected to further strengthen bilateral economic and trade relations by enhancing market access, facilitating investment, promoting greater economic cooperation and contributing to sustainable economic growth in both countries. Both sides are working towards a broad-based, balanced and comprehensive agreement guided by the principles of fairness and reciprocity, said the ministry.