Luxon calls for an ‘all of New Zealand’ investment in India relationship

Calling India a major geopolitical power and a significant global and regional security actor, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has reiterated the importance of the South Asian nation to New Zealand.

"Our relationship with India is so significant that I want to see an 'all of New Zealand' effort, with government, business and community all moving in the same direction," Luxon said in a keynote speech at the India New Zealand Business Council summit on Friday.

Pabritra Margherita, India's minister of state for external affairs, attended the Auckland event as part of his three-day visit to New Zealand.

"The wider Kiwi-Indian community also has a very important role as - in Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi's words - the 'living bridge' between New Zealand and India," Luxon said.

"The 300,000-strong Indian community is the third-largest ethnic group in New Zealand. India is our largest source of skilled migrants and our second-largest source of international students.

"A point I made to Prime Minister Modi was that Kiwi-Indians are on average younger, better educated and have greater earnings than the general New Zealand population.

"In short, Indian-Kiwis are making a massive contribution to New Zealand."

Referencing his recent visit to India, Luxon highlighted the "immense" opportunities the country provided to New Zealand businesses.

"Despite India's growth and scale, it still only accounts for 1.5 percent of our exports. We are working hard to change that," Luxon said.

"The launch of [free trade negotiations] is a breakthrough in the economic relationship between India and New Zealand."

Luxon promised to maintain the momentum in the relationship.

"[We] will increase our diplomatic footprint in India by more than 60 percent, underscoring our commitment to the relationship and our ambition to see it grow further," he said.

Margherita urged the New Zealand government to look at India's instant bank payment system - the Unified Payment Interface (UPI).

"There are over 1 billion UPI transactions happening in India every month," Margherita said. "I certainly hope we can work out a proposal of cooperation in digital payments between India and New Zealand."

Repeating comments to the media on Thursday, Luxon called for India and Pakistan to de-escalate hostilities that have left nearly four dozen people dead in two days of fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

"On 22 April, India suffered a devastating terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. New Zealand condemns terrorism, and we sent our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the attack," Luxon said.

"Since then, we have seen an escalation in tension and military activity. We encourage both India and Pakistan to show restraint at this difficult moment and try to de-escalate the situation.

"The situation in Jammu and Kashmir reminds us that we face an increasingly difficult and uncertain strategic outlook, including in the Indo-Pacific region that India and New Zealand share."

Foreign Minister Winston Peters offered to help get the situation between India and Pakistan under control.

"We are looking forward to meeting this afternoon with Minister of State Margherita to discuss our building bilateral relationship," Peters said.

"This meeting will also provide an opportunity for us to exchange views on the heinous terrorist attack in Kashmir last month, developments between India and Pakistan in the last few days and New Zealand's wish to help support a seriously rapid de-escalation of the situation."

New Zealand's foreign minister also lauded India's global rise in recent decades.

"There are few countries in the world that have been so dramatically transformed over the past 35 years as has India," Peters said.

"We have seen hundreds of millions of Indians lifted out of poverty; huge improvements in education, health and life expectancy; and a breathtaking economic expansion.

"And all of this has been achieved while maintaining India's proud democratic tradition of settling the inevitable differences that emerge in a country of such immense scale and diversity at the ballot box.

"India's rise has been a force for good in our region and for our world."

The India New Zealand Business Council unveiled its annual report at the event, with chair Bharat Chawla calling the relationship between the two countries "heading in the right direction with plenty of hard work still to go".

"Ongoing investment is needed in growing 'India capability' in New Zealand businesses," Chawla said. "[Some] work remains for the private sector and the government to address long-standing issues around mobility and two-way investment."

Simon Tucker, director global external affairs for the dairy giant Fonterra, carried the argument further, calling the ongoing free trade negotiations "an exciting and significant step".

"We are looking for high-value niche in the Indian market," Tucker said.

"For example, we can look at supplying specialised proteins, which will be complimentary to the Indian dairy market.

"[We] face many tariff and non-tariff barriers when trading there. Our hope is that a free trade agreement between our two countries will address some of these issues."

Jason Te Brake, chief executive of Kiwifruit export company Zespri, referenced the recently signed Kiwifruit Cooperation Agreement, noting how the company is partnering with local Indian growers to increase its footprint in the country every year.

"We have increased our distribution partners [from two] to three now, and our exports have also increased by almost 50 percent year on year," Brake said.

Ashok Malik, chair of the Indian subsidiary of consulting firm The Asia Group, assured the industry leaders about India's desire to get the free trade agreement across the line.

"The very fact India is negotiating free trade agreements with New Zealand and the US means there is some recognition of the need [for imports that include dairy]," Malik said.

"There's certainly a pathway. [For example] there may be opportunities for certain types of cheese but not mass-market cheese."

Peters highlighted the potential between New Zealand and India.

"Given the serious progress our two countries have made in the last 18 months, now is the time to work to realise that potential," Peters said.