New Delhi, July 14 -- India and the Maldives have concluded the first round of negotiations for a proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA), marking progress in efforts to strengthen bilateral trade and investment ties. The virtual negotiations were held from June 29 to July 7, 2026.

The negotiations were led by Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce Ujjwal Kumar Ghosh for India and Yusuf Riza for the Maldives.

Officials from both countries held text-based discussions across eight technical sessions covering multiple policy areas and reported progress on several negotiating issues.

On July 8, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal met Maldives' Minister of Economic Development, Transport and Trade Mohamed Saeed to review pr...