New Delhi, July 15 -- 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 last week. The Commerce and Industry Ministry said that both sides made substantive progress across the negotiating tracks and reached broad convergence on several issues. India is the second-largest trading partner of the Maldives. Bilateral trade between the two countries stood at over 771 million US dollars in 2025-26, compared to 679 million US dollars in 2024-25, registering a growth of 13.54%.

The proposed FTA is expected to further strengthen bilateral economic and trade relations by enh...