The last time an Indian Prime Minister visited New Zealand, Rajiv Gandhi was in office, and the Cold War had not yet ended. Forty years later, Narendra Modi landed in Auckland on the night of 10 July 2026, received at the airport by Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, and spent two days converting what had been a warm but underdeveloped bilateral relationship into a formal Strategic Partnership.
“This visit, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in four decades, has opened an important new chapter in our relations,” Modi posted on X after the visit concluded. “Our decision to elevate ties to a Strategic Partnership will give new momentum and direction to our friendship.”
The visit produced 18 formally announced outcomes covering maritime security, trade, defence, agriculture, education, culture, healthcare, tourism, research and diaspora engagement. It was the most substantive bilateral engagement between India and New Zealand in the history of the relationship.
The Strategic Partnership and Roadmap to 2030
The headline outcome of the Auckland summit was the elevation of India-New Zealand relations to a Strategic Partnership, formalised through the India-New Zealand Strategic Partnership: Roadmap to 2030.
The roadmap will guide cooperation over the next four years across political engagement, defence, security, trade, primary industries, tourism, education, research, climate action and regional affairs. The two countries agreed to hold regular meetings between their prime ministers and ministers, establish a Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, and use annual senior-official consultations to review progress.
Modi described the two countries’ futures as “intertwined” and called for deeper collaboration in technology, innovation, trade and education. Luxon said the partnership reflected “shared democratic values, deep people-to-people links, and shared interests in the Indo-Pacific.”
The Free Trade Agreement: what it contains
The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was signed on 27 April 2026 at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and New Zealand Trade Minister Todd McClay, three months before the Auckland visit. It is one of India’s fastest-concluded FTAs, negotiated in nine months from the formal launch on 16 March 2025 to conclusion on 22 December 2025.
The FTA grants 100% duty-free access to all 8,284 Indian export product categories in New Zealand from day one. New Zealand has committed USD 20 billion in investment in India over 15 years. The deal opens 5,000 Temporary Employment Entry visas and 1,000 Work and Holiday visas annually for Indian professionals in sectors including IT, engineering, healthcare, education, construction and specialised services.
India, in turn, liberalised duties on 70% of tariff lines, covering 95% of New Zealand’s exports by value. Sensitive sectors including dairy, sugar and certain agricultural products remain in the exclusion list, protecting Indian farmers and domestic industries.
Both governments have set a target to double bilateral trade from approximately USD 2.4 billion in 2024-25 to USD 5 billion within five years of the FTA coming into force.
The FTA includes what has been described as the world’s first comprehensive annex dedicated to AYUSH, covering Ayurvedic product exports, wellness tourism, yoga services and research collaboration. It will enter into force after completion of domestic ratification procedures in both countries. Modi referenced the FTA directly at the Auckland summit: “Earlier this year, our nations concluded a Free Trade Agreement in record time and now, we have elevated our ties to a Strategic Partnership. Next up, we wish to double bilateral trade by 2030.”
Defence: from goodwill to logistics
The defence outcomes of the Auckland summit moved the bilateral security relationship from declarations to operational arrangements.
The Indian Navy and the New Zealand Defence Force concluded a Mutual Logistics Support Arrangement, allowing reciprocal logistical assistance during approved operations and activities and giving both forces a framework to support deployments and work together more effectively. India and New Zealand also agreed to conduct naval activities including bilateral exercises, establish an annual Maritime Security Dialogue and expand structured engagement between their defence ministries and services. New Zealand nominated maritime security as its priority pillar under India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative. Initial cooperation will include efforts against illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing.
What is the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative?
What is the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative?
The Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative (IPOI) was launched by India at the East Asia Summit in 2019 as a framework for cooperative maritime engagement across the Indo-Pacific. It is organised around seven pillars: maritime security, maritime ecology, maritime resources, capacity building and resource sharing, disaster risk reduction and management, science, technology and academic cooperation, and trade connectivity. Partner countries nominate a pillar to lead or co-lead. New Zealand’s nomination of maritime security as its priority pillar formalises its engagement with the IPOI framework and deepens its integration into India’s Indo-Pacific strategic architecture.
Agriculture: kiwifruit and dairy knowledge exchange
Agriculture produced two of the more specific and practical outcomes of the Auckland summit.
The two countries launched a Kiwifruit Action Plan and announced Centres of Excellence in Nagaland and Uttarakhand covering cultivation, skills, agricultural innovation and productivity. They also signed an agreement on animal husbandry and dairying for technical collaboration, knowledge exchange and best practices.
New Zealand’s expertise in dairy productivity and kiwifruit cultivation has direct application in India’s agricultural development agenda. Nagaland and Uttarakhand were selected as locations for the Centres of Excellence because of their climate suitability for kiwifruit cultivation and the government’s focus on developing hill-state agricultural economies.
Education and people-to-people ties
Education emerged as a key focus area in the evolving India-New Zealand relationship, with both nations looking to increase people-to-people links and create new opportunities for students, researchers and institutions.
The FTA’s mobility provisions are the most directly relevant education outcome for Indian students: 5,000 work visas annually for Indian professionals and improved post-study work pathways create a more structured framework for Indian students in New Zealand to build careers after graduation. Specific education institution-level agreements were not announced at the summit but are expected to follow under the Roadmap to 2030 framework.
Culture and healthcare
A Cultural Cooperation Memorandum of Understanding was signed, aimed at strengthening collaboration in arts, heritage, creative industries and cultural exchanges. The two countries also agreed to expand cooperation in healthcare, including traditional systems of medicine.
The healthcare MoU’s inclusion of traditional medicine reflects the AYUSH chapter in the FTA, which creates structured pathways for Indian Ayurvedic and wellness products and services in the New Zealand market.
The Kia Ora Modi community event
Thousands of members of New Zealand’s Indian community gathered at Auckland’s Spark Arena for the “Kia Ora Modi” community event, celebrating the Prime Minister’s visit as a milestone moment for the diaspora. Auckland Indian Association president Shanti Patel said the visit carried significance beyond politics.
PM Modi said the Indian community in New Zealand remained a “strong pillar” of friendship between the two countries. “The Indian community in New Zealand is one of the strongest pillars of our friendship. Addressing them in Auckland was a memorable experience,” he said.
About 292,000 of New Zealand’s 5.3 million people identified as Indian in a 2023 census.
The tension behind the visit
The visit took place against a backdrop of rising anti-Indian sentiment in New Zealand. Rising Indian migration has made the community a flashpoint in New Zealand’s immigration debate, with Indian New Zealanders reporting more racial abuse while politicians including Winston Peters’ New Zealand First party push for tighter migrant controls.
The India-New Zealand FTA itself generated political tensions within New Zealand’s ruling coalition. New Zealand First, a coalition partner in the Luxon government, expressed reservations about the pace and terms of the FTA negotiations, creating internal government friction that surfaced publicly in the months before the Auckland summit.
The question of Modi and press conferences was also raised in Auckland on 11 July, at an MEA briefing, where a New Zealand journalist asked why the Prime Minister does not hold open press conferences. MEA Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon described Modi as a “quintessential Indian politician” who prefers direct contact with the electorate.
The tour in full
The New Zealand visit concluded Modi’s six-day three-nation Indo-Pacific tour covering Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand, which ran from 6 to 11 July 2026.
In Indonesia, 14 agreements were signed covering critical minerals, maritime security, IIM Bangalore’s first overseas campus in Malang, and the BrahMos defence deal. In Australia, the Modi-Albanese summit produced a uranium supply arrangement, the PACTS technology framework, a Critical Minerals Corridor, a Defence Innovation Corridor, and the fast-tracking of CECA negotiations. In New Zealand, 18 outcomes were announced under the Strategic Partnership and Roadmap to 2030.
The tour redrew India’s Indo-Pacific engagement map, securing a strategic upgrade in relations with Wellington and expanding India’s defence, maritime and technology partnerships across the region.
Modi departed Auckland on 11 July. He did not hold a press conference in any of the three countries.
What the visit means for the Indian diaspora in New Zealand
The FTA’s 5,000 annual work visas for Indian professionals in IT, engineering, healthcare, education and construction is the most immediately practical outcome for the 292,000-strong Indian community in New Zealand. The improved post-study work pathways support Indian students already enrolled in New Zealand institutions.
The Cultural Cooperation MoU and the Kia Ora Modi event signal an official recognition of the Indian community’s contribution to New Zealand that has been slower to come than in Australia or Canada. Whether the Strategic Partnership framework translates into stronger protections and support for Indian New Zealanders navigating a period of rising anti-immigrant sentiment remains to be seen.
