INDIA and New Zealand concluded the second round of free trade agreement talks in New Delhi yesterday, making progress in areas including goods, services, investment, and trade facilitation, India’s commerce ministry said.
The talks, held from July 14 to 25, follow the launch of negotiations in March during New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s visit to India. The third round will be held in New Zealand in September, with virtual meetings planned before then.
This comes a day after India signed a trade pact with Britain and as it continues negotiations with the European Union and the United States.
Both sides aim to conclude a “balanced, comprehensive and forward-looking” deal, the ministry said in a statement.
India’s merchandise trade with New Zealand rose 48.6 per cent year-on-year to $1.3 billion in the 2024/25 fiscal year that ended in March.
The proposed deal is expected to boost trade, investment, and supply chain resilience.
Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a $565-million credit line and launched free trade talks with the Maldives yesterday during a visit to the Indian Ocean archipelago, where India competes with China for influence.
Modi’s two-day trip is aimed at boosting India’s development partnership with the Maldives, and he said the credit line was central to that goal.
“This will be used for projects linked to infrastructure development in line with the priorities of the Maldivian people,” he said, adding that the two countries would also finalise a bilateral investment agreement.
They will work to deepen cooperation on multiple sectors including tourism, healthcare, and housing, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said.
“Looking ahead we are fully committed to further strengthen our cooperation with India across a broad range of sectors through exchange of high-level visits,” Muizzu added.
Modi is the first foreign leader to visit Muizzu since he took office in 2023, pledging at the time to end the Maldives’ ‘India first’ policy, and taking steps to strengthen ties with China.
Muizzu’s moves briefly soured relations with New Delhi, before India helped to prevent the $7.5bn economy from defaulting on its debt as the Maldives struggled to get tourists to its white-sand beaches and luxury resorts.
He has since visited both countries, the Maldives’ main bilateral lenders, to secure financial support, as well as signing trade pacts with China and Turkiye and initiating talks with India on a trade agreement and an investment treaty.
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