A look at New Zealand's ties with India

Four years ago the New Zealand government unveiled the first of its ‘NZ Inc’ Country Strategy Papers ‘Opening Doors to India’, which set the goal of having India as a ‘core trade, economic and political partner’ by the end of 2015.  That time is now up but it is clear the intended goal remains far from met. Indeed, it’s not even close.  As a participant in a recent track two dialogue organized by the New Zealand India Research Institute and the Observer Research Foundation put it, the relationship today is warm but ‘a little bit empty’.  For all the platitudes about a shared tradition of parliamentary democracy and Commonwealth heritage, and our mutual love of cricket, the relationship looks shallow almost across the spectrum. 

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I have been wanting to cover New Zealand's relationship with India for a while. David Capie's very good article provides the opening for my below commentary. My prediction is even if Capie doesn't realise it yet , the subject material of his article will be of some historical importance. I will split my commentary into two parts . In part one, I will give my take on defence ties between the two nations. In the same vain part two will see me take a glance at the trade and diplomatic relationship.


India faces the same challenges as many developing countries. What sets India apart is the scale of the challenges due to the countries population and landmass. Corruption , a civil service who operates like it did before globalisation and extending education to poverty stricken areas. India discourages or deters foreign investment. The lack of foreign investment is a handicap India will have to address if they are to achieve sustainable economic growth.

Some people would view these challenges as negatives. I take the view they present New Zealand with opportunities for the private , Non Government Organisation (NGO) and government sectors to play a small role in Partnering with India in what has been termed the Asian Century. India's emerging middle class is at the Coal Face of the world's largest democracy.

Geography sees India sandwiched between Pakistan , Central Asia and China. Pakistan is a unstable if not a border line failed state. Central Asia/”The Stans” act as land route or barrier to the Middle East. China looms large both on India's borders and as a rising economic and military power. India's emerging middle class is coming into this backdrop as I write this article.


One of the many lessons from the International Force For East Timor (INTFERNET) is the value of mutual understanding between the New Zealand and Australian armies. 1RNZIR under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Kevin Burnett ONZM , plugged seeming less into the Australian lead INTFERNET Command Structure. Burnett's battalion common understanding with the Australian Army and not common protocols and procedures was why 1RNZIR was Plug n Play ready. The years of the two armies Officer exchanges , attending each others Staff Colleges and so on , paid off handsomely.

India is a emerging Naval Power and a large contributor to UN Peacekeeping operations. India can said to be expanding its footprint globally and in Asia. Aside from greater levels of mutual understanding , other clear benefits are to had by deepening defence ties between the NZDF and the Indian Armed Forces. Joint training exercises, sharing of operational experiences and improved capabilities (E.g. Indian Armed Forces Peacekeeping and NZDF Anti submarine warfare.) would be on the menu.

Naval and maritime patrol operations is where I foresee New Zealand and India military cooperation/Joint Operations taking place. The NZDF and law enforcement could conduct training exercises with its Indian counterparts. New Zealand's contributions to UN Peacekeeping operations is at its lowest levels in over twenty years. Specialist Peacekeeping Operations is the NZDF's niche capabilities that no other military in the world can match. Surely it would make sense for New Zealand to develop India's Peacekeeping capacity and capabilities?


I do now need to shift my focus to New Zealand's economic ties with India. A more in depth look at the potential benefits of improved defence ties is for another time.

New Zealand's main exports to India are commodity products. In my opinion this reflective just how reliant New Zealand remains on dairy exports. Although they have been lowered trade tariffs still remain a barrier to Kiwi commodity exports. Why hasn't New Zealand looked for other export market opportunities to India? What non traditional areas could New Zealand look to set exploit in such a populous country?

New Zealand prides itself on producing innovations in areas like IT or design fields. To the best of my knowledge Kiwi innovation has yet to find its way to tackling issues like sanitation and access to clean drink water in India and the other parts of the developing world. It's not like the issue of expanding sustainable levels of sanitation hasn't been highlighted and discussed in recent years. In 2011 the Bill Gates Foundation ran a competition that sought the best design of toilet that would deliver safe and sustainable sanitation to billions of people who don't have it world wide.

Do Kiwis have the business sense to couple with the culture of innovation to meet the market for sustainable sanitation? What kind of business model will be employed? Who will work with the Indian government and NGO's to roll out the products to urban and outlying areas? Unlike with dairy exports the New Zealand government won't be making much effort to open other doors. Individuals with a wide ranges of skills, backgrounds and values will have to lead the way in breaking down the doors that open to India.

In my view the neglect New Zealand's ties with India is reflective of how successive government's have viewed Asia. New Zealand views of Asia are predominantly centered around China's role as being Fonterra's number one customer. By the same token Kiwi's see India through the same kind of mirror.Sure Indian students provide revenue for high education outlets in New Zealand. Intrepid Kiwis travel to India as part of their Big Overseas Experience.


Beyond scholarly circles New Zealand engagement with India isn't discussed. Unless the general public takes a greater level of interest ,New Zealand's relationship with India won't improve in the areas of military ties and diplomatic relations. Public discussion of New Zealand foreign policy , diplomatic relations and military posture is by in large absent. The lack of public/voter awareness has permitted successive governments to make monumental blunders.

The current state of New Zealand relationship with India is one of those blunders. New Zealand cannot find any measure of security or a meaningful place at the diplomatic table until the blunder is recognised and corrected. New Zealand must find its security within the Asia-Pacific region. The security of New Zealand's maritime trade routes against threats from piracy , terrorism and medium to high intensity conflicts is depended on our relations with countries like India.

Another blunder made by the New Zealand foreign policy establishment is putting all their eggs in the UN Security Council basket. New Zealand wasted a decade of diplomatic resources on securing a temporary seat on the UN Security Council. The expense of pandering to the League of Nations , err I mean the UN is demonstrated by the lack of foundations in the New Zealand engagement with India. New Zealand could have accomplished a lot by building the foundations. Instead New Zealand will accomplish nothing, but blowing hot air while sitting on the Security Council.