New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on Saturday welcomed the Free Trade Agreement with India, describing it as a major achievement for his government, even as differences emerged within the ruling coalition after the country's foreign minister voiced strong reservations.
Calling the agreement a landmark step, Luxon said it marked a key move towards long-term economic growth. “We said we’d secure a Free Trade Agreement with India in our first term, and we’ve delivered,” he said. Highlighting its economic impact, he added that the deal would bring “more jobs, higher incomes and more exports by opening the door to 1.4 billion Indian consumers.”
Luxon said the agreement aligned with his government’s broader agenda, stating, "Fixing the basics. building the future." Luxon met PM Modi in October 2025.
However, the deal has exposed divisions within New Zealand’s coalition government. Foreign Minister Winston Peters criticised the agreement, calling it “neither free nor fair.” Peters, who leads the New Zealand First party, said he had raised his concerns directly with India’s external affairs minister S Jaishankar, while stressing that he held “utmost respect” for him despite opposing the deal.
India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement
The Free Trade Agreement was announced earlier this week following talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Luxon. Both leaders said the deal could potentially double bilateral trade within 5 years and result in investments worth $20 billion in India over the next 15 years.
Negotiations for the agreement began in March. At the time of the announcement, Modi and Luxon said the deal reflected the “shared ambition and political will to further deepen ties” between the 2 countries.
What NZ foreing minister said
Peters argued that the agreement conceded too much without delivering adequate benefits for New Zealand. He said his party had cautioned its coalition partner against rushing the talks without a wider political consensus.
“New Zealand First urged its coalition partner not to rush into concluding a low-quality deal with India, and to use all three years of this Parliamentary cycle in order to get the best possible deal,” Peters wrote in a detailed post on X.
