India-new Zealand Waka: Beginning Of A Shared Strategic Journey

By Author: CGI
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Prime Minister Modi’s visit to New Zealand on July 10–11, 2026, marked a watershed in bilateral relations, elevating New Delhi-Auckland ties to the level of strategic partnership. The winning partnership provides New Zealand much-needed economic diversification in Asia while India widens its diplomatic footprint in the South Pacific, says Amb. (Retd.) Muktesh Pardeshi.

Addressing the large Indian diaspora event ‘Kia Ora Modi’ on July 11, 2026, in Auckland, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi invoked the Māori concept of waka to describe the evolving India-New Zealand ties. Waka represents the great ocean-faring vessels that the ancestors of Māori used to navigate to Aotearoa (New Zealand) from Polynesia. The reference to the waka was both symbolically powerful and culturally resonant. For the Māori people, the waka is not merely a canoe; it is the symbol of heritage, identity, and collective journey.

A Historic Visit
Prime Minister Modi’s visit to New Zealand on July 10–11, 2026, marks a watershed in bilateral relations. It was the first visit by an Indian Prime Minister in four decades, ...
... the last being Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s visit in October 1986, during which the bilateral Trade Agreement was signed. Since then, there has been Presidential visits from India in 2016 and 2022, while New Zealand Prime Ministers visited India in 2004, 2011 and, most recently, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in March 2025.

The long interval between the prime ministerial visits underscores the significance of the present one. Coupled with PM Modi’s latest visit to New Zealand and the signing of the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement on April 27, it makes 2026 one of the most consequential years in the 75-year history of bilateral relations. During Prime Minister Luxon’s visit last year, both countries launched the Free Trade Agreement negotiations and signed MoUs for bilateral cooperation in the fields of defence, education, customs, horticulture, forestry and sports. The latest visit by PM Modi has built decisively on these achievements.

Strategic Partnership
The most significant outcome of the visit is the elevation of bilateral ties to a Strategic Partnership, accompanied by the adoption of a comprehensive Roadmap to 2030.

India and New Zealand became independent nations within a few years of one another and established formal diplomatic ties in 1952. Though there have been strong people-to-people links underpinned by a large diaspora, convergence of geopolitical interests and complementarities between the economies of the two countries, geography has literally kept the two countries apart. The historical India-New Zealand relationship can fairly be described as one of friendly indifference – cordial, non-controversial, and underdeveloped. The bilateral relationship has been ‘warm, but not deep’ compared to New Zealand’s relations with China, Japan, South Korea and some ASEAN countries.

That began to change in 2011, when the New Zealand’s National government led by Prime Minister John Key set out a strategy to develop New Zealand’s bilateral relationship with India. New Zealand identified India as a priority country in its “Opening Doors to India” policy notified in October 2011 which was reiterated in 2015 and in 2019 by the Labour Government led by Prime Minister Jacinda Adern, underlining bipartisan support “…for India to become a core trade, economic and political partner for New Zealand…”

The two sides agreed to strengthen cooperation on counter-terrorism, cybersecurity, critical technologies and resilient supply chains, enhance coordination in regional and multilateral forums, including the Indo-Pacific, Pacific Islands, Commonwealth and United Nations. There is a recognition of New Zealand’s growing importance in India’s Indo-Pacific strategy and India’s role as a major regional security and economic partner.

Unlocking Economic Potential
Early contacts between the two countries developed in the shadow of the British Empire. As part of the wider trading networks of the British Empire, India supplied tea, tobacco, rice, spices and other consumer goods to New Zealand, receiving timber and other products in return.

Over the years, New Zealand has grown as a trading nation, relying heavily on exports, which account for around one-third of its GDP. As it seeks to diversify both its economic and strategic partnerships, India has emerged as a natural and increasingly important partner of New Zealand.

The Free Trade Agreement has been in the making for last 15 years. India and New Zealand agreed to undertake a joint study in 2007-08. New Zealand was negotiating FTA with China since 2005, which was signed and entered into force in 2008. Negotiations with India commenced in April 2010 and the 10th round took place in Delhi in 2015 and thereafter continued on the sidelines of Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) rounds. In November 2019, India decided to opt out of RCEP, which led to huge disappointment in New Zealand. It was only in June 2022 that the 10th Joint Trade Committee met after a hiatus of 14 years, which set the stage for a fresh round of discussions.

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