New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon will visit India on March 16-20 to deepen economic and diplomatic ties with the country and also try and convince New Delhi to restart negotiations for a bilateral free trade agreement (FTA).
Luxon, who made a promise during his 2023 election campaign to sign an FTA with India before the end of his electoral term, seems ready to make compromises by excluding dairy from the pact, which is a sensitive sector for India.
The New Zealand PM will hold bilateral talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi covering various aspects of India-New Zealand relations and also call on President Droupadi Murmu, per a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on Monday.
“PM Luxon will join the inaugural session of the 10th Raisina Dialogue 2025 on March 17 in New Delhi as the chief guest and deliver the keynote address,” the statement noted. He will also visit Mumbai on March 19-20 to interact with Indian businesses, it added.
“Luxon has been signalling that his government was ready to negotiate an FTA with India even if the dairy sector got mostly excluded because of its sensitivity as his country was also interested in rest of the products. He may take this line in his interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” a source tracking the matter told businessline.
In fact, he told the local media while announcing his India visit that he would not let ‘perfect’ be the enemy of `good’.
“[Dairy will] be a very difficult part of a conversation, and it’ll be hard, it’ll be very tough, very difficult. But that’s not a reason to shy off, and just say that’s a market we turn off, when it’s going to be the third biggest economy in the world, very, very shortly. It’s just insane to me that you just wouldn’t try,” Luxon was quoted as saying by the New Zealand media.
The attempts for an FTA notwithstanding, Luxon said that his real commitment was to deepen trade with India. His government was looking for a much more comprehensive economic partnership and how it could be moved forward, he said.
India’s talks with New Zealand for an FTA were suspended in 2015 after around five years of negotiations as India had refused to give any access to its dairy market. Dairy is New Zealand’s largest export item and contributes significantly to the GDP.
New Zealand, with a population of around 5.25 million, was India’s 87th largest trading partner in FY 24 with exports to the country at $538 million and imports at $335 million. While India’s exports mostly comprise pharmaceutical products, mineral fuels, textiles articles and machinery, its imports include mineral fuels, wood, iron and steel and kiwi fruit.
“Prime Minister Luxon’s visit underscores the longstanding and enduring ties between India and New Zealand. It reaffirms the continued commitment of both countries to further strengthen the bilateral relationship across all sectors and deepen our close people-to-people ties,” the MEA said.
Australia’s formalisation of an Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) with India which allows it access to the Indian market for many products, such as the kiwi fruit, at preferential duty rates, is another reason for New Zealand’s renewed interest in India.
