Ten years after their breakdown, India and New Zealand have resumed free trade negotiations as Prime Minister Christopher Luxon started his five-day visit of Delhi. Later today, he is supposed to see Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Next month the two sides have agreed to start the first round of negotiations.
Luxon said the declaration marks a “major breakthrough” in the two nations’ economic ties.
“India holds great potential for New Zealand and will play a pivotal role in double New Zealand’s exports by value over the next 10 years,” Luxon remarked.
Right now, bilateral commerce between the two nations comes out to be under $2 billion (£1.55 billion).
Along with the US Director of National Intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard, Luxon is a keynote speaker in an ongoing geopolitical conference in Delhi.
Arriving in India, Luxon remarked, “India is an important power in the Indo-Pacific and I will discuss with Prime Minister Modi what more we can do together to maintain peace and prosperity in our region.”
Apart from commerce, New Zealand said it was increasing its involvement with India in sectors including defense, security, sports and environment. Regarding economic connections with Delhi, New Zealand stated they were “key priority”.
The significance of the tour is highlighted by Luxon’s stated accompaniment with one of the biggest delegations a prime minister has ever flown with.
Originally starting in 2010, trade talks between the two nations had stopped following many rounds over matters including market access.
India has long defended its dairy market, which New Zealand has wanted more access to benefit its farmers.
India has now opened itself further to bilateral negotiations with foreign nations after years of mistrust over free trade.
Following Delhi relaunching free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with the European Union and the United Kingdom, the announcement to resume trade talks with New Zealand comes right behind.
After over sixteen years of negotiations, Delhi concluded a $100 billion free trade pact with the European Free Trade Association, a collection of four European nations not members of the European Union last year.
Two years back, India and Australia also signed a significant commercial cooperation agreement.
As India worked to negotiate trade deals, this week Piyush Goyal, the trade minister for the nation, “cautioned” an Indian exports company “to come out of their protective attitude”.
These trade negotiations have become more important for Delhi in light of US President Donald Trump’s intention to levy tit-for–tat tariffs on imported commodities from nations including India. These go into force on April 2.
