New Delhi, Mar 6 (IANS): India and Malta on Tuesday discussed ways to strengthen ties across multiple sectors during a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Maltese Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion Carmelo Abela here.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted that the two sides "discussed steps to strengthen our ties in trade and investment, IT, renewable energy, health, culture, consular, people-to-people sectors, as well as exchanged views on regional and multilateral issues".

Trade between the two countries stood at around $160 million in 2016-17, according to figures provided by the ministry.

In a separate tweet, Kumar said that both India and Malta shared the common heritage of the Commonwealth.

Efforts are on to revive the relevance of this grouping of former British colonies and this year's Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) will be held in Britain next month.

"India was one of the first countries to recognise independence of Malta in 1964 and the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1965," the spokesperson said.