Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook a historic two-day visit to New Zealand, marking the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in nearly four decades. During the visit, India and New Zealand elevated their bilateral relationship to a Strategic Partnership for the first time and adopted a Roadmap to 2030 to deepen cooperation across multiple sectors.
Key Outcomes
Strategic Partnership & Political Cooperation
- Bilateral ties elevated to a Strategic Partnership.
- Adoption of Roadmap to 2030, a four-year action plan covering:
- Defence, Agriculture, Science & Technology, People-to-people exchanges, Trade, Maritime security, Sports, Tourism, Multilateral cooperation
- Agreement to hold:
- Regular meetings between Prime Ministers.
- High-level interactions among Cabinet and Foreign Ministers.
- Annual senior-level reviews to monitor implementation of the Strategic Partnership.
Defence & Security Cooperation
Defence
- Continued: High-level defence dialogue, Joint military exercises, Personnel exchanges, Defence staff college exchanges
- Implementation of the 2025 MoU on Defence Cooperation.
Maritime Security
Implementation of:
- Maritime Cooperation Arrangement
- Hydrography and Nautical Cartography Arrangement
- Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement
Additional initiatives:
- Bilateral naval exercises.
- Annual Maritime Security Dialogue.
- Cooperation under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI).
Counter-Terrorism & Cyber Security
- Operationalisation of the Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism.
- Continuation of Cyber Dialogue.
- Enhanced law-enforcement cooperation.
- Strengthening of critical infrastructure resilience.
Trade & Economic Cooperation
Trade
- Target to double bilateral trade to NZ$7 billion (₹35,000 crore) by 2030.
- Commitment towards early implementation of the India–New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Trade Facilitation
- Operationalisation of the 2025 Authorised Economic Operators (AEO) Mutual Recognition Arrangement under the 2024 Customs Cooperation Arrangement.
Agriculture
- Cooperation in Horticulture, Forestry, Dairying, Animal Husbandry through research, technical collaboration and policy dialogue.
- Memorandum of Cooperation on Animal Husbandry and Dairying signed.
- Launch of the Kiwifruit Action Plan under the Agricultural Productivity Partnership.
- Announcement of Centres of Excellence for Kiwifruit in: Uttarakhand ad Nagaland
Tourism
- Promotion of two-way tourism.
- Encouragement of direct non-stop flights under the updated Air Services Agreement.
Science, Technology & Education
Scientific Cooperation
- National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR), Goa to collaborate with the University of Canterbury on Antarctic research.
- NIFTEM-Kundli and Massey University to strengthen:
- Research collaboration
- Student exchanges
- Academic mobility
Education & Innovation
- Implementation of the 2025 Education Cooperation Arrangement to expand institutional partnerships.
- Collaboration in: Climate, Science & Technology, Agriculture, Emerging technologies, Digital transformation
Climate & Disaster Management
- Cooperation through:
- International Solar Alliance (ISA)
- Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA)
- NDMA (India) and NEMA (New Zealand) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation covering:
- Earthquake resilience
- Tsunami preparedness
- Coastal hazard mitigation
- Capacity building
- Policy dialogue
- Clean Energy:
- New Zealand announced its decision to join the Global Biofuels Alliance.
People-to-People & Cultural Cooperation
- Strengthening diaspora engagement.
- Greater cooperation between local governments.
- Continued implementation of the Joint Action Plan on Sport.
- Collaboration in: Maritime heritage, Seafarer competency recognition, Traditional medicine, Cultural exchanges
Regional & Multilateral Cooperation
Indo-Pacific
- Coordination in ASEAN-led and other regional forums.
- Strengthened cooperation under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.
- Commitment to peaceful dispute resolution based on UNCLOS and international law.
United Nations
- Support for UN reforms.
- New Zealand reaffirmed support for India’s candidature for permanent membership of a reformed UN Security Council.
- Agreement to exchange support for multilateral candidatures where appropriate.