On Sunday, India and New Zealand officially recommenced discussions for a comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as India seeks to swiftly establish global trade partnerships that will facilitate its ambitious goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. This announcement aligns with the visit of New Zealand’s Prime Minister, The Right Honourable Christopher Luxon, to India from March 16-20, 2025.
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The FTA negotiations were initiated during a high-level meeting between Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister for Commerce and Industry, and Todd McClay, New Zealand’s Minister for Trade and Investment. The anticipated India-New Zealand FTA is expected to strengthen supply chain integration, enhance market access, and generate new economic opportunities for enterprises in both nations.
In April 2010, the two nations commenced negotiations for the Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement aimed at enhancing trade in goods, services, and investments. However, after ten rounds of discussions, these negotiations came to a halt in February 2015. A significant obstacle during this period was New Zealand’s request for increased access to India’s dairy market, which India opposed in order to safeguard its domestic dairy sector that sustains millions of farmers, as noted by Ajay Srivastava, the founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative.
Additionally, India showed hesitance in reducing tariffs on dairy, meat, and wine imports from New Zealand, while New Zealand advocated for more advantageous trade conditions.
