New Zealand, India strike ‘milestone’ strategic partnership
Sealed during a landmark visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the pact covers tighter defence cooperation, including with naval exercises, as well as stronger ties in trade, diplomacy, culture, sport and science.
India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi (right) shakes hands with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon at Government House in Auckland, New Zealand, on Jul 11, 2026. (Photo: AFP/Dean Purcell)
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AUCKLAND: New Zealand and India announced Saturday (Jul 11) the creation of a strategic partnership encompassing defence and security, during a landmark visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon feted his guest with an indigenous Maori welcome and a guard of honour, seeking to expand relations after signing a free trade pact in April that he has touted as an economic boon.
Modi’s visit, at the tail end of a Jul 6-11 tour that has also taken him to Indonesia and Australia, came in the aftermath of China test-firing a ballistic missile into the Pacific Ocean on Monday, stirring unease in the region.
It was the first visit to New Zealand by an Indian prime minister in 40 years, a sign of Delhi’s deeper engagement at a time of strengthened Chinese diplomatic and military presence in the Pacific.
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Modi described the strategic partnership as a “milestone” that would inspire greater energy and confidence, as he was hosted by the New Zealand leader for discussions at Government House in Auckland.
“Our firm belief in democratic values makes us natural partners,” he said.
The pact covers tighter defence cooperation, including with naval exercises, as well as stronger ties in trade, diplomacy, culture, sport and science, the two countries said in a joint statement.
The nations have a shared interest in a “free, open, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific”, they said.
The two countries “quickly canvassed” the Chinese missile test, Luxon told reporters in a briefing after the talks.
He skirted a question about whether closer New Zealand-India ties would curb Beijing’s ambitions in the region.
“We are a small trading nation. We are a maritime nation. We need to have as many relationships as we possibly can with partners around the world that are like-minded, and some of those are around defence, and some of those around trade, some around both.”
“WONDERFUL AUDIENCE”
In the evening, the two leaders fronted an estimated 10,000 or more cheering Modi fans from the country’s 300,000-strong Indian diaspora who packed into Auckland’s Spark Arena.
“Before me I see a wonderful audience in which there is the light of a developed India and the prosperity of New Zealand,” Modi told supporters, many of whom stood and chanted his name.
Luxon praised the Indian diaspora, declaring: “Without you we simply would not be the New Zealand we are today.”
Outside the stadium, about 20 Sikh protesters demonstrated with a mannequin of Modi in prison clothes, describing the Hindu nationalist as the face of “Hindu terror” in India.
That sparked more than 100 supporters of the Indian leader to chant: “Modi, Modi”, leading scores of police to intervene to keep the two sides apart.
Luxon, who faces New Zealand general elections in November, has been promoting the jobs and economic benefits of the free trade deal with India, which is awaiting parliamentary approval.
But the trade agreement has faced pushback from some in New Zealand, in particular over its provisions for easier immigration and visa access to Indian students and workers.
Lawmakers in the populist New Zealand First party, part of Luxon’s governing coalition, railed against parts of the agreement.
“I don’t care how much criticism we get, I am just never going to agree with a butter chicken tsunami coming to New Zealand,” government minister Shane Jones told a local radio show.
An Indian community leader accused Jones of “outright racism”.
Source: AFP/ws
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