NEW DELHI – A free trade agreement with China was rushed through the Parliament in the Maldives in the absence of opposition members.

The FTA, which commits both sides to reduce tariffs on more than 95% of goods to zero, was approved on Wednesday by the Parliament, hours after a cabinet meeting chaired by President Abdulla Yameen decided to sign the deal.

The move, which comes a little more than a year after the Maldives said it would sign its first FTA with India, apparently caught New Delhi unawares and is expected to add to concerns about China’s growing influence in the strategic Indian Ocean nation. India will also be apprehensive the FTA could push the Maldives into a debt trap similar to one affecting Sri Lanka.

According to the Maldives Independent, the FTA was passed with 30 votes from ruling party lawmakers in the 85-member legislature. Opposition lawmakers complained they were not notified of the parliamentary session that ratified the deal. Some said they received text messages about the session after it begun.

The opposition questioned the manner in which an emergency sitting of the parliament was called to send the FTA to the national security committee. The panel completed its review of the deal in a short closed-door meeting and the document was quickly approved at a second impromptu sitting of the Parliament on Wednesday night.

Negotiations for the FTA began in late 2015 and concluded in September, but it was not immedately clear when it would be signed.