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India, New Zealand upgrade their ‘made for each other’ ties
India and New Zealand upgraded their relationship to a strategic partnership as they signed defence agreements to boost maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, facilitate reciprocal logistics support between the Indian Navy and the New Zealand Defence Force and strengthen hydrographic collaboration.
The 18 agreements and announcements that followed PM Narendra Modi’s summit meeting with his counterpart Christopher Luxon included the establishment of a joint working group to combat terrorism and a joint action plan for collaboration in high-performance sports to expand ties beyond cricket.
The leaders called for doubling of bilateral trade in the next 5 years to Rs 35,000 crore on the back of the newly signed FTA, with Modi welcoming New Zealand’s commitment to invest $ 20 billion in India over the next 15 years – a key takeaway from the trade agreement. Luxon later said the FTA included a “commitment to promote” private investment.
“We’ve been through this before – it’s very clearly understood on both sides – it’s a commitment to promote investment into India from New Zealand and vice versa,” said Luxon, clarifying his country’s position on the issue.
According to Modi, this wasn’t just a commitment to investment, but a commitment to becoming a partner in India’s developmental journey.