India and the Maldives have concluded the first round of negotiations for a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), with both sides reporting substantive progress across eight negotiating tracks as they seek to deepen bilateral trade and investment ties.
The talks, held virtually from June 29 to July 7, involved text-based negotiations across eight policy areas. According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the two sides reached broad convergence on several issues during the inaugural round.
The Indian delegation was led by Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce, while the Maldivian side was headed by Chief Negotiator Yusuf Riza.
The negotiations were reviewed on July 8 during a meeting between Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal and Maldives’ Minister of Economic Development, Transport and Trade Mohamed Saeed. The ministers discussed ongoing bilateral economic initiatives, including the proposed FTA.
Marking 60 years of diplomatic relations, India and the Maldives reaffirmed their commitment to expedite negotiations on both the Free Trade Agreement and the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). They also agreed to expand cooperation in tourism, startups, digital payments, micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and trade.
India is the Maldives’ second-largest trading partner. Bilateral trade stood at USD 771.76 million in 2025-26, up from USD 679.70 million in 2024-25, reflecting a growth of 13.54 per cent.
The proposed FTA is expected to improve market access, facilitate investment flows and strengthen economic cooperation between the two countries. The government said both sides are working towards a broad-based, balanced and comprehensive agreement guided by the principles of fairness and reciprocity.
