Venkat Raman
Auckland, May 9, 2025
While the guns have become silent on both sides of the India-Pakistan borders following a fragile ceasefire, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has underscored the importance of a closer security pact between India and New Zealand.
Delivering the Keynote address at a Leadership Dialogue of the India New Zealand Business Council at the Pullman Hotel on May 9, 2025, he spoke of the recent developments across India and Pakistan, emphasising the importance of building mutual trust.
“One of the reasons why we want to build greater trust is that we can have candid conversations at challenging times. On 22 April, India suffered a devastating terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. New Zealand condemns terrorism and we sent our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the attack. Since then, we have seen an escalation in tension and military activity. We encourage both India and Pakistan to show restraint at this difficult moment and try to de-escalate the situation,” he said.
His wishes came true the following day (May 10, 2025), when the Director-General of Military Operations of India and Pakistan agreed to a ceasefire.
Mr Luxon said that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was a reminder that the world faces an increasingly difficult and uncertain strategic outlook, including in the Indo-Pacific region that India and New Zealand share,” he said.
About 300 delegates across businesses attended the half-day INZBC event. Among the Special Guests were Mr Luxon, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Winston Peters, India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita, India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand Neeta Bhushan, Consul General of India in Auckland Dr Madan Mohan Sethi, New Zealand’s Trade and Investment Minister Todd McClay, senior officials of the governments of India and New Zealand and current and former Members of Parliament.
Three Major Observations
During his address at the INZBC ‘Boardroom to Border’ Leadership Dialogue, Mr Luxon mentioned three key areas as the pathway to his mission in government. These envelope Economic Opportunities, Defence and Security and People and Culture.
(Photo by Jack O’Flaherty)
Strategic Trust and Defence Cooperation
Mr Luxon said that he and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi agreed that the Defence Forces of both countries should build greater strategic trust with one another, including undertaking more exchanges and training together.
“I was pleased to witness the signing of a new Defence Cooperation Arrangement with India. This arrangement enhances defence dialogue and connections and adds an important new dimension to our strategic engagement,” he said.
Mr Luxon said that he was privileged to deliver the keynote address at the Annual Raisina Dialogue (one of the premier defence and security events in the world) in New Delhi on March 17, 2025.
Economic opportunities
Describing India’s growth story as ‘amazing,’ Mr Luxon said that India has recorded the fastest rate of growth within the G20 countries and that it is on track to becoming the third largest economy in the world by the end of the decade.
“I had a chance to discuss with Mr Modi (during my visit to New Delhi) India’s extraordinary transformation. Over the past decade, 250 million Indians have been lifted out of poverty; the number of airports in India has more than doubled to 157, with many more planned in the coming years; and India’s government estimates that it has built 95,000 kilometres of highway. To put this last one in perspective, that would be enough highway to drive between New Zealand and India eight times. India also has a vibrant middle class of more than 450 million people,” he said.
Stating that New Zealand has immense economic opportunities with India, he said that India currently accounts for a negligible 1.5% of New Zealand’s exports.
“We are working hard to change that. It is Kiwi and Indian businesses that are the engines of growth, creating new opportunities, lifting trade, and helping transform the relationship between our countries. A part of my government’s job is to improve the environment in which our great Kiwi businesses operate in their dealings with India. We have made significant progress in this regard,” he said.
Free Trade Agreement
Mr Luxon noted with satisfaction the recent launch of negotiations for a Free Trade Agreement by Mr McClay and India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal.
“Mr Modi and I have instructed our negotiators to work quickly to reach a comprehensive and mutually beneficial agreement, one that promises to play a major role in doubling New Zealand’s exports by value over the next ten years. My government is focused on growing our economy and lifting incomes, and the launch of negotiations presents an opportunity to do that. Our visit to India witnessed the signing of 33 Memoranda of Understanding, reflecting the growing partnerships between New Zealand and Indian businesses,” he said.
The MoU between Air New Zealand and Air India to establish a new codeshare partnership on 16 routes between India, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand was mentioned as a highlight of the agreements.
“The MoU will also see these two great airlines explore the introduction of a direct service between India and New Zealand by the end of 2028. This is a fantastic opportunity that promises to make it easier to fly between our countries and further boost our tourism and education sectors,” he said.
People-to-People Links
Mr Luxon believes that links between people are an important pathway to better bilateral relations between two countries.
“New Zealand’s Indian community was a key feature of many of my discussions in India, including with Mr Modi. He praised New Zealand’s Indian Diaspora, referring to it as a ‘living bridge’ between our countries. Mr Modi and I formally recognised the contribution of the Diaspora in the joint statement released during my visit. The 300,000-strong Indian community is the third-largest ethnic group in New Zealand. India is our largest source of skilled migrants and our second-largest source of international students,” he said.
Mr Luxon described Cricket as another indispensable element of partnership with India.
“It was very special to visit Wankhede Stadium with Mumbai-born Ajaz Patel, who took the third-best bowling figures in Test history on that ground. But our sporting links go beyond Cricket. Mr Modi and I also discussed his plans to diversify and enhance India’s prowess across multiple sports. India is particularly interested in Olympic Sports as it looks to bolster Ahmedabad’s bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games. Given our high-performance sports ecosystem and our outstanding record at the Olympics, this is an area where New Zealand is well positioned to work with India,” he said and added that the signing of a Sports Memorandum of Cooperation between New Zealand and India was another highlight.
“This arrangement allows us to develop new ways to collaborate across high-performance sports, and exchange programmes, skills, technology and innovation, research, and people.
It should boost sports performance in each country and facilitate exchanges in areas such as community sports and health. Cooperation in sports is particularly significant at a time when, next year, New Zealand and India will celebrate 100 years of sporting ties. We look forward to celebrating this milestone, including with a visit by the Indian men’s cricket team in late 2026,” he said.
