Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is “looking forward” to working with his incoming Kiwi counterpart Chris Luxon.
The Indian leader congratulated the Prime Minister-elect through a message on X, formerly Twitter, on October 16, 2023.
“Heartiest congratulations to Prime Minister-elect @chrisluxonmp for his party’s win in the General Elections. Look forward to working together to further strengthen India-New Zealand ties,” Modi wrote.
Luxon’s National Party is set to lead Aotearoa’s next coalition government after a blue wave demolished the Labour Party in the October 14 elections.
Luxon is bullish on firming up bilateral relations with India, and in the election campaign he was the first leader to talk about improving ties with the South Asian giant.
In the months leading to the election, Luxon announced one of his party’s key priorities would be to strike a Free Trade Agreement with India. He has also promised to lead a prime ministerial delegation to India within the first year of his leadership.
At a summit in April 2023, Luxon said, “When you think about India being the third biggest economy in the world by 2030, we want to be able to deepen our trade relationship with India big time.”
He underscored “it’s important New Zealand as a small country isn’t forgotten” as countries strike strategic partnerships with India. Australia hopes to complete by this year an ambitious, comprehensive trade deal with India that has been stuck in negotiations for over a decade.
In 2010, former prime minister John Key made it a priority to settle a trade deal with India. But those talks ended about the time he visited New Delhi in 2016. Officials have often described India’s reluctance to offer concessions on New Zealand’s primary exports like dairy as a deal breaker when exploring a comprehensive trade agreement.
