Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's pitch to India for stronger defence ties after the bloody terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam is cementing its way into the ongoing bilateral relations build-up.
India's Foreign Minister S Jaishankar echoed the sentiment on Thursday after his meeting with outgoing Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters in New Delhi.
Jaishankar thanked New Zealand for its "support and solidarity" on the Pahalgam terrorist attack before pointing to the need for more defence cooperation.
"...took stock of the progress made by our partnership. Agreed that in a more volatile & uncertain world, it’s important that India & New Zealand collaborate closely for a rules-based, peaceful, stable & prosperous Indo-Pacific region," he said in a social media post on May 29.
Peters is in Delhi as part of his trip to the Indian subcontinent during which he has also visited Sri Lanka and Nepal.
On April 22, terrorists gunned down 25 Indians and one Nepali civilian in Pahalgam after identifying them as Hindus – an attack Luxon has condemned unequivocally since then.
Earlier this month, the prime minister pointed to the Pahalgam attack to make the case for “greater trust” between India and New Zealand, as he pursues a trade deal with the South Asian giant.
Photo: @DrSJaishankar
He was speaking at a strategy and trade dialogue organised by the India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) at Pullman Hotel on May 9 when he made the reference to Pahalgam.
“One of the reasons why we want to build greater trust is so that we can have candid conversations at challenging times,” he had said.
During his trip to India this March to kickstart trade talks, Luxon often pointed to India’s rising status as a regional power as he projected strategic and defence ties between New Delhi and Wellington.
On May 9, he brought up defence collaboration once again. “The situation in Jammu and Kashmir reminds us that we face an increasingly difficult and uncertain strategic outlook, including in the Indo‑Pacific region that India and New Zealand share.”
As the government broaches terrorism and regional security with India candidly, a motion condemning the attack in Pahalgam failed to pass in New Zealand’s Parliament earlier this month.
The ACT Party had tried to shore up cross-party support for the motion. The Green Party said they will not support it because it wasn't worded properly for a motion of its kind. They did propose an alternate draft they were happy to support which didn't mention any reference to the attack being an act of terror.
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