India, New Zealand unveil Strategic Partnership Roadmap to 2030, set ambitious agenda across trade, defence

Auckland: India and New Zealand on Saturday announced the creation of a Strategic Partnership and unveiled a comprehensive ‘India-New Zealand Strategic Partnership: Roadmap to 2030’ to guide cooperation across key areas including political engagement, defence and security, trade, education, science and technology, culture and regional cooperation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met in Auckland on Saturday and endorsed the road map as a shared framework to further strengthen bilateral ties.

The road map outlines six key pillars covering political and diplomatic engagement, defence and security cooperation, trade and economic partnership, people-to-people links, education and innovation, and regional and multilateral cooperation.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs, the Strategic Partnership road map noted that both sides will work towards regular high-level engagements, including meetings between Prime Ministers, Cabinet Ministers and senior officials.

It also envisages strengthening the Foreign Ministers’ Dialogue, parliamentary exchanges and annual Secretary-level consultations between India’s Ministry of External Affairs and New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to oversee implementation of the partnership.

In the defence and security sector, India and New Zealand agreed to expand cooperation through military exercises, visits of maritime, air and land units, personnel exchanges, defence staff college interactions and high-level defence dialogues.

The two sides will “continue to implement the 2025 India–New Zealand Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation and maintain regular, structured defence engagement at Defence Ministry and Service levels.”

The road map also includes plans to enhance maritime security cooperation under the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative, establish an annual Maritime Security Dialogue, operationalise a Joint Working Group on Counter-Terrorism and deepen cooperation on cybersecurity.

Both countries will also work towards agreements on combating trafficking of narcotic drugs and strengthening law enforcement cooperation between India’s National Investigation Agency and New Zealand Police.

On trade and economic cooperation, India and New Zealand have set an aspirational target of doubling bilateral trade in goods and services to NZ$7 billion (around ₹35,000 crore) by 2030. The two sides agreed to work on the next steps for the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to ensure its early entry into force and effective implementation.

The road map also focusses on strengthening cooperation in primary industries, including horticulture, forestry, animal husbandry and dairying.

Both countries will implement existing agreements to promote joint research, technical exchanges, innovation, knowledge sharing and market development in these sectors.

Tourism cooperation will be expanded through the implementation of the Tourism Memorandum of Arrangement, promotion of two-way visitor flows and encouraging airlines to introduce direct non-stop flights under the updated Air Services Agreement.

Under the people, culture and sports pillar, India and New Zealand recognised the important role of diaspora communities in strengthening people-to-people connections.

The two sides will continue cooperation in sports, including implementation of the India-New Zealand Joint Action Plan on Sport, while also promoting cultural exchanges, cooperation between local governments and expert-level exchanges in traditional medicine.

In education, research, science and technology, both countries agreed to implement the 2025 Education Cooperation Arrangement and encourage greater partnerships between institutions.

The road map also highlights cooperation in climate action, low-emission transitions, renewable energy and sustainable development through engagement with the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuels Alliance.

India and New Zealand will encourage partnerships in research, science, technology and innovation, with focus areas including agriculture, climate change, digital transformation and emerging technologies.

Cooperation between disaster management authorities will also be strengthened through an arrangement between India’s National Disaster Management Authority and New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency covering preparedness, emergency response and capacity building.

At the regional and multilateral level, the two countries agreed to exchange views on ASEAN-led and other regional forums, support a rules-based Indo-Pacific and explore cooperation under the maritime security pillar of the Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.

They also committed to strengthening cooperation at the United Nations, supporting UN reforms, including India’s candidature for permanent membership of a reformed Security Council, and extending mutual support for candidatures in international organisations.

The road map clarified that the ‘India-New Zealand Strategic Partnership: Roadmap to 2030’ does not create legally binding obligations under domestic or international law and does not involve financial commitments.

It provides a structured framework for both countries to deepen cooperation and build a stronger partnership in the years ahead.

IANS