India and New Zealand have restarted free trade talks a decade after the negotiations collapsed, while Prime Minister Christopher Luxon began his five-day tour in Delhi where he had bilateral interviews with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The two parties agreed to start the first series of negotiations next month.
The announcement is a “major breakthrough” in the economic relationship between the two countries, said Luxon.
“India has an important potential for New Zealand and will play a central role in the doubling of New Zealand exports per value over the next 10 years,” said Luxon.
Bilateral trade between the two countries is estimated at less than $ 2 billion (1.55 billion pounds Sterling) currently.
Luxon is a principal speaker at an ongoing geopolitical conference in Delhi, who will also be assisted by the American director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard.
In addition to trade, New Zealand said that it deepened its engagement with India in areas such as defense, security, sports and the environment, adding that economic ties with Delhi were a “key priority”.
The two leaders signed a defense cooperation pact for improved maritime security and said they would explore greater collaboration in the digital payment sector.
On March 16, representatives of the five eyes-an intelligence alliance including New Zealand with Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States-attended a conference of Intelligence and Security Manager organized by the Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in Delhi.
The proximity of New Zealand is crucial for Delhi’s interests, because India aims to counter China in the Indian Ocean region.
Luxon would be accompanied by one of the largest delegations with which a Prime Minister has ever traveled, stressing the importance of the visit.
Trade negotiations between the two countries had initially started in 2010, but were blocked after several laps on issues such as market access.
New Zealand has requested better access to the Dairy Market in India, which India has traditionally protected to support its farmers.
After years of skepticism on free trade, India has recently become more open to the negotiation of bilateral transactions with other countries.
The announcement of restarting trade negotiations with New Zealand is closer to Delhi’s negotiations to the revival of the free trade agreement (ALE) with the European Union and the United Kingdom.
Last year, Delhi signed a free trade agreement of $ 100 billion with the European Free Trade Association – a group of four European countries which are not members of the European Union – after almost 16 years of negotiations.
India and Australia also signed a major commercial cooperation agreement two years ago.
Last week, India Commercial Minister Piyush Goyal had “warned” an Indian export organization “to get out of their protectionist state of mind” while the country was trying to negotiate trade agreements.
For Delhi, these commercial talks have taken a renewed meaning for the decision of the American president Donald Trump to impose prices in Tit-For-Tat on goods imported from countries, including India. These must come into force on April 2.
