India’s Growing Partnership with New Zealand

Context

It is a significant step in the bilateral relationship as the first-ever visit of an Indian PM to New Zealand in 40 years under the theme of trade, technology and innovation; sports Cooperation; and a shared vision for Free, Open and Inclusive Indo-Pacific.

Key Highlights

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting New Zealand for the first time by an Indian Prime Minister in 40 years.
• The visit is expected to boost cooperation in the trade, investment, technology, agriculture, sports, education and regional security fields and to provide a renewed impetus to bilateral relations.

Key Outcomes of the Visit

• Strengthening Economic Partnership

  • Both parties reiterated their willingness to promote bilateral trade & investment.
  • The recently signed India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will likely lead to:
    • Expand the market access of businesses.
    • Increase export and import activities.
    • Encourage long-term investments.
    • Create new employment opportunities.

• Focus on Technology and Innovation

  • Both India and New Zealand agreed to step up their cooperation in:
    • Agricultural technology.
    • Dairy innovation.
    • Precision farming.
    • Food processing.
    • Research and innovation.
    • Digital technologies and new growth areas.
  • New Zealand’s strengths in sustainable agriculture will contribute to enhanced agriculture productivity and value addition in India.

• Sports Cooperation

  • Both countries are on the discussion line on “Joint Action Plan on Sports”.
  • Cooperation will include:
    • High-performance sports.
    • Sports science.
    • Athlete training.
    • Sport management and facilities.

Strategic Importance

• Indo-Pacific Cooperation

  • The visit reflects India’s confidence in a free, open, inclusive and rules-based Indo-Pacific.
  • It fits in with India’s interaction with other Indo-Pacific partners like Japan, Australia and Indonesia.
  • Cooperation helps to create stability, safety and secure maritime supply chains in the region.

• Support for India’s Foreign Policy

  • The co-operation enhances various foreign policy activities, such as:
    • Act East Policy
    • Neighbourhood and Indo-Pacific engagement
    • The Committee for the Advance & Holistic development of Security and Growth Across Regions (MAHASAGAR)

• People-to-People Relations

  • New Zealand has approximately 300,000 Kiwis who are of Indian origin.
  • The Indian community also plays an important role in the business, educational, political, cultural exchanges and more.
  • It is hoped that educational, tourism and cultural cooperation are enhanced, thereby boosting bilateral goodwill.

Significance for India

• Diversifies India’s trade relations.
• Promotes technology transfer and innovation.
• Enhances agricultural modernisation.
• Enhances collaboration in training/education.
• Increasing India’s presence in the Indo–Pacific region.
• Sustains resilient, diversified fora of global supply chains.

Challenges

• The trade is generally still small bilaterally and seems to be limited to a smaller extent than it has the potential to be.
• Logistics costs are a consequence of geographical distance.
• PEIM has little knowledge of market opportunities.
• Certain regional economic dynamics are expected to be influenced by global geopolitical uncertainties.

Way Forward

• Facilitate proper enforcement of FTA.
• Increase cooperation in the field of clean energy, digital economy and critical technologies.
• Encourage collaborative research, agriculture-biotechnology and food security.
• Empower maritime cooperation and connectivity in the Indo-Pacific.
• Promote academic exchange, touristic activities and people to people contacts in order to develop long lasting partnerships.

Conclusion

• The historic visit of PM Modi opens up new avenues of cooperation for India-New Zealand relations, not confined to the traditional areas.
• Socio-economic cooperation, technological development, sports cooperation and joint strategic interests will build a firm base for future cooperation.
• The partnership has great potential to grow in importance in the next few years, as both nations look to develop a more diversified economic interest and support a peaceful Indo-Pacific.

Source: The Indian Express

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