A new forum to promote diplomatic, trade and diasporic ties between New Zealand and India has been launched in Auckland. The New Zealand India Dialogue (NZID) is an initiative of The Indian Weekender, Australasia’s largest Indian multimedia platform by readership and cross-platform following. NZID has been in the works for a few months and is a result of consultations with a spectrum of stakeholders in the NZ-India relationship.
NZ and India have been aptly described as important bookends of the Indo-Pacific region and share a cordial relationship. However, despite the long-standing relationship, the trade growth between the two countries needs a bigger boost now than ever – especially in light of India being the only growing significant economy in the world. India has been recognised as a beacon of hope for the world economy by organisations like the International Monetary Fund.
In his last visit to New Zealand, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasised the need for a reset of the relationship. His visit was followed up by his NZ counterpart Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta’s official visit to India recently. There is clearly an intent from both the countries to reset long standing, friendly ties and take them to the next level.
The NZID aims to enable this reset by bringing all stakeholders together to help achieve this. The Dialogue will leverage the inherent strengths in the relationship, including the people, their commonalities, and shared values.
Speaking at the launch of the forum, The Indian Weekender Editor and Convener of NZID Dev Nadkarni said, “While most inter-country forums tend to focus on a single aspect of the relationship between two countries, such as business, NZID brings together the three most important pillars on which relationships are built: diplomacy, trade and diasporic ties, for, people-to-people ties underpin all relationships.”
Asked what role The Indian Weekender would play, Nadkarni said it would be an impartial, independent platform for stakeholders to come together for deliberations for strategic engagement to facilitate improvement in trade, investment and strengthen relationships between the two countries.
“The Indian Weekender platform will essentially play the role of an enabler, as many media organisations the worldover do for such international engagements. Being a well-recognised, credible and longstanding media platform with access in NZ, Australasia and India, The Indian Weekender would make the NZID’s voice heard in both countries,” he said.
The India New Zealand Business Council (INZBC), a premier organisation in the NZ-India trade relationship, has already signed an MoU with NZID in taking the lead on the trade aspect of the forum. Commending the idea for such an initiative, INZBC Chairman Earl Rattray said, “NZID brings coherence and inclusiveness to the conversation. INZBC is pleased to be part of this initiative.”
INZBC Chairman Earl Rattray
Treasurer Jay Changlani said, “This strategic platform will undoubtedly help strengthen ties with the business community in both countries and the diaspora here and will enhance trade and investment and, equally, people-to-people connections.”
Responding to the formation of NZID, India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand, Neeta Bhushan said, “We welcome and encourage all initiatives which highlight the growing partnership between India and New Zealand.”
India’s High Commissioner to New Zealand, Neeta Bhushan
The President of NZ’s largest organisation representing Indian New Zealanders, the New Zealand Indian Central Association (NZICA), Narendra Bhana said that this was the first time an organisation like the NZICA had been invited to participate in a platform like NZID. “People-to-people dialogues form the basis of international relationships and NZICA is very pleased to be part of this, being one of the oldest organisations of its kind in NZ,” he said.
Dhansukh Lal, President of the 100-year-old Auckland Indian Association (AIAI) said AIAI fully supports NZID. “We look forward to contributing meaningfully to take the ties between our two countries, which have more than a 150-year-old history, to new heights. We are happy to have been invited to be part of this,” he said.
The NZID was in the process of finalising MoUs with several stakeholders in government, diplomatic organisations, trade and industrial bodies, diaspora and cultural organisations and academic institutions at the time of writing.
NZID’s inaugural event will be announced shortly, Nadkarni said.
India and NZ are the bookends of the Indo-Pacific
In recent times, Australia has moved quickly to cement and grow its relationship with India, with a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and tariff-free trade for most merchandise, as well as freer people movement. It has realised that in the realigned equations of the Indo-Pacific, India has an increasingly important role to play, both in geopolitics as a longstanding non-aligned global power but also the engine of economic growth for much of the world.
There is no gainsaying the strategic importance of being aligned to Indo-Pacific region.
It comprises 40 countries and economies, including some of the largest in the world.
The key players in the region include Australia, India, Japan, ASEAN countries, New Zealand, the Pacific Island Countries, and the People's Republic of China (PRC). The United States has been positioning itself as the biggest Indo-Pacific power, with a focus on promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific.
The Indo-Pacific is a critical economic and strategic region, with a large and growing middle class and abundant natural resources. The region is also home to key global trade routes and geopolitical flashpoints, making it a major focus of international attention. A stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific is vital for regional and global security, and there is growing recognition of the need for a rules-based order to manage regional tensions and promote cooperation.
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