Diwali and New Zealand’s growing ties with India

It’s that wonderful time of the year once again when New Zealand, led by our talented and spirited Indian community, celebrates the Diwali Festival of Lights. From the main centres to the smaller towns, Indians all over New Zealand come together during Diwali to share their culture with the wider community.

It is the testament to the importance of the Indian community to New Zealand that the Diwali Festival shuts down a portion of Queen Street – the main thoroughfare in the country’s biggest city – and that the opening ceremony is graced by the presence of Governor General Dame Patsy Reddy.

Over the past 15 years, the Asia New Zealand Foundation has had the privilege of being at the forefront of bringing this festival to life in Auckland and Wellington, giving New Zealanders a taste of Indian culture through dance, music and cuisine.

Over the years we have brought many world-class performers from India in partnership with the Indian Council for Cultural Relations to perform not only at the festivals but also in outreach activities in schools. Thousands of children have had the chance to meet performers face-to-face and learn some dance steps or other skills.

And this year, to encourage especially young people to take part in the celebrations, we have launched a competition on social media to give away two return flights to Singapore courtesy of Air New Zealand. Simply post a photo or video showing your Diwali celebration to be in to win. Check the Asia New Zealand Foundation website for more details.

According to the 2013 Census, New Zealand is now home to over 155,000 people of Indian descent, making Indians the second largest and the fastest growing Asian ethnic group in the country.

Events like the Diwali Festival help New Zealanders as a whole to become more familiar and comfortable with the rich and complex Asian cultures in our midst. This, in turn, gives New Zealanders a real edge in our engagement with countries in Asia – currently the most prosperous, exciting, and dynamic region in the world.

It is important to ensure that we embrace, nurture, and grow events like Diwali. Indian New Zealanders have an important role to make sure this happens. In the long term, the awareness generated by these events will be crucial to the success not only of the next generation of Indian New Zealanders but also to the success of New Zealand as a whole.

North Asian countries tend to dominate coverage of Asia in New Zealand media, but there are exciting developments elsewhere in Asia that impact New Zealand. One of which is India’s rise as an emerging power not only in South Asia but in the world. The Foundation has just launched our Asia Media Centre and we look forward to working with The Indian Weekender in bringing more of these topics to the fore.

Acknowledging the growing strategic importance of India, this time last year, the Asia New Zealand Foundation commissioned former New Zealand High Commissioner to India Graeme Waters to write a report on New Zealand’s growing connectivity with India. For 2018-2019, India will be one of the Foundation’s three focus countries.

Last year, the visit to India by the then Prime Minister the Rt Hon Sir John Key exemplified the growing relationship between the two countries. I was lucky enough to be part of his delegation and witnessed first-hand the warm reception he received. 

In addition, India was the subject of the first NZ Inc country strategy – an attempt to synchronise understanding and effort across government and business. These are just a few examples that show how valuable New Zealand sees its relationship with India and how this relationship is going from strength to strength.

And we are committed to seeing these ties that bind us to continue to flourish.

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Simon Draper is the executive director of the Asia New Zealand Foundation, the leading non-profit, non-partisan organisation in the country focussed on New Zealand-Asia relations, with a range of programmes designed to help New Zealanders gain knowledge and understanding of the countries, peoples, cultures and languages of Asia.