New Delhi: India and the Maldives have concluded negotiations for a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), and the text is undergoing legal scrubbing before the deal is signed.
The two countries are also fast-tracking negotiations for the proposed free trade agreement (FTA).
These issues, among others, were discussed during a meeting here between the visiting Mohamed Saeed, Minister of Economic Development, Transport and Trade of the Maldives, and Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
“We have seen the fast, quick progress of FTA dialogue… both sides meet almost every day. BIT is concluded. We are just seeing the legal scrubbing process,” Saeed said.
Goyal said that the relationship between the people and the businesses of the two countries is soon going to get another fillip with the signing of a BIT and later an FTA.
Both sides have reaffirmed their commitment to expediting the signing of the treaty and the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
The two ministers also discussed ways to enhance collaborations in areas such as tourism, startups, digital payments, and MSMEs.
BIT helps in promoting and protecting investments in each other’s countries. India has recently implemented such pacts with countries like Israel and the UAE.
The agreement is expected to pave the way for increased bilateral investments between the two countries. During April 2000 and March 2026, India received USD 12.65 million in foreign direct investment (FDI) from the Maldives.
India and the Maldives concluded the round of negotiations for a free trade agreement July 7.
In a trade agreement, two countries either significantly reduce or eliminate import duties on the maximum number of goods traded between them.
The bilateral trade between the two countries rose 13.5 per cent to USD 771.76 million (exports USD 458.71 million and imports USD 313 million) in 2025-26 from USD 690 million in 2024-25.
India is the major trading partner of the Maldives.
Indian imports from the Maldives primarily comprise scrap metals, while exports include a variety of engineering and industrial products like drugs and pharmaceuticals, radar apparatus, rock boulders, aggregates, cement, and agricultural products like rice, spices, fruits, vegetables and poultry produce.
India and the Maldives signed a trade agreement in 1981, which provides for the export of essential commodities.
