Christopher Luxon has pointed to last month’s bloody terrorist attack in Pahalgam to make the case for “greater trust” between India and New Zealand, as he pursues a trade deal with the South Asian giant.
“One of the reasons why we want to build greater trust is so that we can have candid conversations at challenging times,” he said in Auckland on Friday.
The prime minister was speaking at a strategy and trade dialogue organised by the India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) at Pullman Hotel on May 9.
“On 22 April, India suffered a devastating terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. New Zealand condemns terrorism, and we sent our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the attack,” he said.
His comments came after India launched Operation Sindoor in the early hours of May 7, targeting nine sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir.
The operation was a response to the Pahalgam terror attacks, which killed 25 Indian nationals and one Nepali citizen. India described the strikes as “focused, measured and non-escalatory in nature.”
During his trip to India last month 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 Friday, 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.”
Luxon once again called on both India and Pakistan to de-escalate the rising tensions following Operation Sindoor
“We encourage both India and Pakistan to show restraint at this difficult moment and try to de-escalate the situation,” he said.