First Round of India–Maldives Free Trade Agreement Negotiations Concludes Successfully

The first round of negotiations for the India‑Maldives Free Trade Agreement (FTA) was concluded successfully in a virtual format from 29 June to 7 July 2026. Led by Chief Negotiator Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh for India and Yusuf Riza for the Maldives, the talks spanned eight technical sessions covering eight policy areas, achieving broad convergence on several issues. On 8 July 2026, Union Minister Piyush Goyal and Maldives Minister Mohamed Saeed reviewed the progress, reaffirming commitment to expedite the Bilateral Investment Treaty and the FTA, and to deepen cooperation in tourism, startups, digital payments, MSMEs and trade. Bilateral trade rose to USD 771.76 million in 2025‑26, a 13.54 % increase over the previous year, underscoring the economic significance of the proposed agreement.