India has denied proposing a new Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the Maldives, refuting claims to the contrary by the current government's Economic Minister Mohamed Saeed.
At a press briefing on Thursday, Indian External Affairs Minister Randhir Jaiswal said he has seen such reports.
"No specific proposal for a bilateral FTA with the Maldives has been made by the government of India. If the government of Maldives expresses interest in having an FTA with India, we will give it due consideration," he said.
But Saeed claimed last week that efforts were underway to establish an FTA between the Maldives and India.
India took the initiative to request the agreement, Saeed said.
"In my recent talks with India, they expressed their wish to have a free trade agreement with Maldives separately, in addition to SAFTA. The President wants to have that opportunity with all countries," he said.
An FTA was signed between South Asian countries in 2004. The agreement was titled the South Asian Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA).
The agreement was signed to empower the region economically and facilitate trade. Maldives signed SAFTA but does not have FTAs with individual countries in the region.
