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Transcript of Special Briefing by Secretary (East) on President's visit to New Zealand (August 08, 2024)

India - Ministry of External Affairs

August 08, 2024

Shri Rajesh Parihar, Director (XPD): Welcome to this Special Media Briefing by Secretary (East) on the visit of President of India to New Zealand. I am Rajesh Parihar, Director at the External Publicity and Public Diplomacy Division of Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. And I have the pleasure to introduce you, sitting on the dais with me, Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India; Shri Ajay Kumar Singh, the Press Secretary to the President of India; Ms. Neeta Bhushan, the High Commissioner of India to New Zealand; and Ms. Paramita Tripathi, Joint Secretary (Oceania), Ministry of External Affairs. With this brief introduction, now I request Secretary (East) to brief the media on the visit.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): Thank you, Rajesh, and a very good afternoon to you all. Kia Ora, Namaskar to all our friends from the media. Since we may not have too much time later on in the day to do a proper structured Press Conference, we thought we utilize the opportunity of a gap in the program of Rashtrapati ji to brief you all as to what has happened till this time today, and also going forward what else is expected.

As you know, Rashtrapati ji is on the second leg of her visit to the Pacific region. And we arrived in New Zealand yesterday from Fiji and we arrived in Wellington from Auckland today morning. India-New Zealand share warm and friendly relations anchored by shared values that are based on democracy, rule of law, and of course our common love of sports. There have been frequent high-level contacts in recent years and a steady progress in our bilateral cooperation in many areas such as trade and commerce, in education, defence, science and technology, and agriculture.

Rashtrapati ji's visit assumes significance. It is the second Presidential visit to New Zealand in eight years, which shows you the priority that we attach to our relations with New Zealand and to the Pacific region. This is of course her first visit to New Zealand and she is accompanied here by Minister of State for Minorities, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, and two Members of Parliament. The Minister is Mr. Kurian and the MPs are Mr. Saumitra Khan and Mr. Jugal Kishore.

Honorable Rashtrapati ji was accorded a warm traditional Maori ceremonial welcome on her arrival and was received by New Zealand's Governor General, the Rt. Honorable Dame Cindy Kiro. She was accorded a Royal Salute and a Guard of Honor. She had bilateral discussions with the Governor General on a range of subjects. Both leaders had a very warm meeting and carried forward their conversation over lunch that the Governor General, Her Excellency hosted for the President. They reflected on the similarities in their personal backgrounds and their common passion for education and the social upliftment of the disadvantaged. At the same time, they discussed also about how both India and New Zealand have so many similarities between the two as mature democracies that believe in the rule of law and in multilateralism and our common interest in the development and climate resilience of the countries of the Pacific. Rashtrapati ji also extended an invitation to Governor General Kiro to visit India at an early opportunity.

The other meeting today morning was that, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of New Zealand, His Excellency Mr. Winston Peters paid a courtesy call on Rashtrapati ji. The Honorable Minister has been to India recently in March. During the discussions, they discussed several issues relating to trade, culture, sports, defence and exploring cooperation in traditional medicine.

Later today, we will have a handing over of instrument of ratification on the International Solar Alliance by New Zealand, and we also hope to exchange an agreement on Arrangements for Customs Cooperation. This will help to strengthen our trade and smoothen customs formalities between the two countries.

As you know, Rashtrapati Ji delivered a keynote address at the New Zealand International Education Conference, outlining her vision for educational collaboration and emphasizing the importance of developing cross-border partnerships in education. India is the Guest of Honor at this year's New Zealand Education Conference, which reflects the significance attached to education in our bilateral relationship.

Honorable Rashtrapati Ji also paid floral tributes and homage to the Father of the Nation at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in the front lawn of the Wellington railway station. Thereafter, Rashtrapati Ji also placed a wreath and paid her respects at the Pukeahu National War Memorial in a moving ceremony. There are, as I said, some more elements of the programme outstanding for the rest of the day. One is the call on the President by His Excellency, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and a state banquet that will be hosted by Her Excellency the Rt. Honorable Dame Cindy Kiro later in the evening.

Tomorrow Honorable Rashtrapati Ji will address the Indian community, the Indian diaspora in Auckland, and the large Indian diaspora is a living bridge between our two countries that further reinforces the strong foundation of our bilateral ties. We will also be opening a Consulate General of India in Auckland soon and that will further strengthen relations and assist the diaspora.

I would like to say that in general, this has been a very, very warm, very successful, content-wise very rich visit and it marks a new milestone in our bilateral relations. And if you have any questions, I would be happy to attempt to answer them.

Speaker: Sir, you spoke about trade, culture, defence among the sectors that were discussed for cooperation. One of the very interesting topics is traditional medicine. We all witnessed the wonderful Maori culture ceremony in the morning. So one thing that is common between India and New Zealand is the indigenous cultures and the traditional knowledge associated with them. In what form can we take forward this cooperation?

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): So Rashtrapati Ji emphasized, at her various meetings today, about the importance of traditional medicine and also how during the COVID pandemic, in India especially, traditional medicine paid (inaudible) as well as in recovery, post-COVID recovery. And she also said, in that context, how New Zealand also has a rich tradition of traditional medicine and how we could cooperate, both sides, in the area of traditional medicine. As you know, the Global Centre for Traditional Medicine is set up in India by the World Health Organization and it would be a good forum to exchange knowledge and expertise in this area.

Sam: Kia Ora, Sir. You've mentioned the discussions about trade and economic cooperation. Obviously, the New Zealand government has expressed its interest in a trade deal with India and I know our Trade Minister and officials have made a number of visits. What can you say about the current feeling or thoughts in India about the possibility of a trade deal with New Zealand and what might be some of the difficult areas?

Shri Rajesh Parihar, Director (XPD): Can you introduce yourself?

Sam: Sam Sachdeva from Newsroom.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): To your question, I would say Free Trade Agreement is always a very aspirational target; and not just with New Zealand, I think for countries around the world, that is the ultimate objective to enter into a Free Trade Agreement. However there are many things in between that can be done. At the moment, for example, we are discussing with New Zealand, how New Zealand could export some of their, say, fruits and vegetables, and we could export some of our fruits and vegetables to New Zealand. So, there are several aspects to it. Customs duties is only one of them, conditions, phytosanitary conditions, standards, etc. also come into the picture, as also the customs procedures. So, during this visit, we are signing one particular agreement on customs procedures, which would certainly assist trade between the two countries, and we wish to proceed step by step to see what other things that we can do. So certainly on both sides, we are both interested in helping our farmers to export things like fruits and vegetables to one another at the moment, but there could be greater ambition going forward.

Speaker 2: Hi, Sir. There has been a lot of air traffic passengers moving between India and New Zealand over the last couple of years, but the problem that has been faced is there's no direct connection in terms of flight between New Delhi and Wellington or Auckland. Is there any talks perhaps going on to start direct flights between Delhi and New Zealand?

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): So, when Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mr. Winston Peters went to India in March, we concluded a revised Air Services Agreement, which should help in this. Of course, the airlines on both sides are private players, and therefore the decisions that they will make will be based on criteria that private players use to make such decisions. So Governments can only encourage them and facilitate their entry into the direct connection area by things like Air Services Agreements and other facilitations. So we are doing that. So we are doing that. Both Governments are very keen. I think we had about 40,000 tourists from New Zealand to India last year, and the other way is about 200,000. That's a good enough number, I think, to have direct flights. So let's put some pressure on the private airlines.

Speaker 3: Sir, can you elaborate on the discussions between Rashtrapati ji and the Governor General during the bilateral talks? You told us about the Deputy Prime Minister and Rashtrapati ji.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): No, actually I covered the entire gamut of discussions. So, when I said that they discussed everything from trade and commerce to education cooperation, cultural cooperation, people to people, so that was both with the Governor General as well as with the Deputy Prime Minister. And I have no doubt that with the Prime Minister also we will have similar subjects for discussion.

Venu: Venu Menon from Indian Newslink. What is the progress of India's membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, especially since New Zealand is one who is staunchly opposing it.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): Here, I would hesitate to go into that area because we are discussing our bilateral relations and the visit of the President. At no point did we discuss, did the subject of the Nuclear Suppliers Group come up, so I will not venture in that direction.

Shri Rajesh Parihar, Director (XPD): Any further questions? I see none. So, Sir, with your permission, now I would like to conclude this Special Media Briefing and thank you, Sir. Thank you everyone and the briefing is over.

Shri Jaideep Mazumdar, Secretary (East): Thank you.