The first round of in-person meetings between Kiwi and Indian officials negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) will begin in New Delhi this week, Trade Minister Todd McClay said on Monday.
A New Zealand government delegation has reached India after several rounds of remote meetings the last few weeks, the minister said.
"This is an important step in our trade relationship with India and signals the two governments' intent to deliver a high-quality outcome that benefits both countries," McClay said.
"With a population of 1.4 billion and a GDP estimated to grow to US$5.2 trillion by 2030, India offers significant opportunity for New Zealand exporters," McClay said.
"Strengthening ties with India across the board is a key part of the Government's broader strategy to diversify and grow New Zealand's export markets and double trade by value in 10 years."
The announcement follows Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's trip to India in March where he met counterpart Narendra Modi and the two countries agreed to restart trade negotiations a decade after earlier talks stalled.
The two leaders committed to having senior representatives take a crack at negotiations to get a deal “as soon as reasonably possible”.
“They [the Indian side] are not saying we might do a deal,” Luxon told reporters during his India visit. “They're saying they want to get a deal done. And so, you know, I think that's extremely encouraging.”
This isn’t the first such rodeo for the two countries. The two sides were firing on all cylinders when trade talks fell through after 10 rounds of negotiations back in 2016.
The prime minister 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.”
The previous negotiations, which took place between 2011 and 2015, were hindered by obstacles, particularly around New Zealand's dairy exports.
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.
Luxon is expected to deliver a keynote speech at an event organised by the India New Zealand Business Council in Auckland on Friday.
Titled "INZBC Boardroom to Border Dialogue 2025", the event will be attended by Indian minister of state for external affairs Pabitra Margherita.
"[The event] focussed on the strategic, economic and regional opportunities India presents today," organisers said.
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