New Zealand has entered the second round of free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations with India on 16 July, 2025, in New Delhi, RNZ reported.The first round of FTA talks were held in early May this year.
Trade Minister Todd McClay confirmed that talks have been progressing steadily since the formal launch of negotiations in March. “We have been advancing discussions with India since the launch of FTA (free trade agreement) negotiations in March, including in-person talks in Delhi in May, a series of virtual engagements and a second round of negotiations taking place this week,” he said.
“There has been good engagement from both sides, and we're making meaningful progress," McClay added. "While there's still significant work ahead, both countries are committed to securing a high-quality, commercially meaningful agreement."
The renewed negotiations come on the heels of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's visit to India in March, during which both nations agreed to restart trade discussions. Previous talks held between 2011 and 2015 were suspended, mainly due to challenges related to New Zealand’s dairy exports. The discussions were shelved after India joined the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), which it later exited in 2019.
India is currently New Zealand’s 12th largest two-way trading partner, with total trade between the two countries reaching $3.14 billion in 2024. It is also New Zealand's 25th largest goods export market, with exports valued at $718 million, consisting primarily of forestry and agricultural products such as wool, timber, and apples.
In an overview of the bilateral relationship, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade stated, “The New Zealand-India FTA will create valuable opportunities for both New Zealand and Indian exporters to diversify their export destination and expand two-way trade between our two countries.”
Prime minister Luxon promised during a 2023 election debate that his administration would sign a free trade agreement with India in its first term.
In all, more than 30 agreements were signed during Luxon's four-day visit, including deals on sports and horticulture cooperation, code-sharing partnerships between airlines and further collaboration in the education sector.
While in Delhi, Luxon was asked if this deal could be the quickest one with India. “Well, we're going to just…since we're sending deliberately a message into our respective systems, we don't want this thing slowed up unnecessarily… to be losing time.
“You can see the way that I operate. You can see the way Prime Minister Modi operates. We are wanting to do this differently, and that means we're not afraid to have the hard conversations we need to have.”
After returning from India in March, McClay called for public submissions on free-trade negotiations.
Several industry organisations such as the NZ Timber Industry Federation and Export NZ made submissions before the 15 April deadline, indicating strong support to the proposed free trade deal.