(Photo Rahul Bhattarai)
Rahul Bhattarai
Auckland, October 06, 2022
On the 70th Anniversary of formal diplomatic relationships between India and New Zealand, Indian External Minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar criticised New Zealand for not being fair and sympathetic on its immigration policy.
Mr Jaishankar is on a six-day tour to New Zealand and during his joint press conference with his Kiwi counterpart, he urged for a “fairer and more sympathetic” immigration policy, especially with students stuck in India during the Covid lockdown.
During the bilateral meeting Minister of Foreign Affairs Nanaia Mahuta had been flagged for consideration, the predicament of students who had to go back during the Covid lockdown, without completing their studies, he said.
“I obviously urged that their situation be treated sympathetically and with fairness, and also the students who are waiting to come to this country,” he said.
“All of us in different governments across the world are struggling to restore pre-Covid processes, I am very confident that the Government of New Zealand will take the situation of students into account and respond [sic],” he said.
Ms Mahuta said she had noted Mr Jaishankar’s concerns and would be passing them on to the Minister of Immigration Michael Wood.
“I have given the Minister (Mr Jaishankar) an undertaking that the concerns that he has raised, we have registered, and we will certainly take that back to our Minister of Immigration,” she said.
According to Education New Zealand, about 10,000 students arrived from India in 2020, adding about $500 million to the economy.
Indian Newslink has not been able to confirm the exact amount of students stuck in India due to visa-related issues cause by Covid border closers.
Ms Mahuta also said: “We are changing immigration settings to attract high-skilled migrants with a clear pathway to residency for globally hard-to-fill roles. We anticipate there could be opportunities for high-skilled migrants from India through the green list, such as dairy farm managers and ICT roles.”
But she said the Free Trade Agreement with India was not the Governments priority at this stage.
“It is not our priority right at this moment,” she said.
Ms Mahuta said this historic visit to Aotearoa New Zealand by the Indian Foreign Minister provided an opportunity to strengthen the relationship in areas like people-to-people exchanges and climate action.
She welcomed Mr Jaishankar with a mihi whakatau ceremony and formal talks at Auckland War Memorial Museum.
“This year marks the 70th Anniversary of formal diplomatic relationships between India and New Zealand. India is a priority relationship for New Zealand. It was our 16th largest trading partner in the year to December 2021, and we are committed to broadening our partnership,” she said.
“The Indian community accounts for about 5% of our population or almost 240,000 people. In our largest city, Auckland, that figure stands at 10% . It is no surprise that Hindi is our fifth most spoken language,” Ms Mahuta said.
Mr Jaishankar is on a six-day tour of New Zealand during which he will inaugurate the new building of the Indian high commission in Wellington, on Sunday, October 9, 2022.
Rahul Bhattarai is our Reporter based in Auckland.
