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

India, July 14 -- The Government of India has issued a release:

In a major step towards expanding bilateral trade and investment engagement, the first round of negotiations for the India-Maldives Free Trade Agreement (FTA) concluded successfully. The negotiations were held in virtual mode from 29 June to 7 July 2026.

India's negotiating team was led by Chief Negotiator Mr. Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh, Joint Secretary, Department of Commerce, while the Maldives delegation was led by its Chief Negotiator Mr. Yusuf Riza.

During the first round, 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 ...