India and New Zealand have committed to ensuring the early entry into force and effective implementation of their Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as outlined in a vision document unveiled in Auckland on Saturday. The two countries also elevated their ties to a Strategic Partnership, setting a 2030 roadmap to double bilateral trade in goods and services to ₹35,000 crore (NZ$7 billion) over the next four years.The Strategic Partnership envisages deeper cooperation in trade, defence, maritime security, tourism, culture, sports, agri-tech, people-to-people exchanges, and coordination on Indo-Pacific priorities and multilateral issues.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon announced the roadmap after bilateral talks in Auckland. Under one of the six pillars of the Strategic Partnership, both countries agreed to “work together on next steps for the India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement to ensure its early entry into force and effective implementation.” The FTA was signed on April 27, 2026.The target of doubling bilateral trade by 2030 signals both countries’ intent to deepen economic ties and expand market access under the FTA.Ratification under wayThe announcement is expected to ease concerns over opposition to the pact from sections of New Zealand’s ruling coalition and its dairy industry. While the ratification process has begun in New Zealand, with the first of the three mandatory parliamentary readings completed, no timeline has been set for the agreement to come into force.New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, leader of the right-wing New Zealand First party, had opposed the FTA during its negotiations and again during its first parliamentary reading last month, calling it “neither free nor fair” and “a bad deal for New Zealand.” He also accused coalition partner National Party of quietly easing immigration rules to introduce a temporary employment visa for Indians.Addressing these concerns during a media briefing, MEA Secretary (East) Rudrendra Tandon said New Zealand had assured India that the agreement enjoys bipartisan political backing and that the ratification process would move ahead swiftly.“As far as the FTA is concerned, their ratification process has already started. The first reading has already taken place. According to their system, there are three readings in Parliament, only after which ratification will happen,” Tandon said.Despite differences within the ruling coalition, he said Prime Minister Luxon had conveyed that the FTA enjoys broad political support.“Prime Minister Luxon also told our Prime Minister that there is bipartisan support for this FTA. That’s why he wants the ratification process to be completed as soon as possible... We don’t foresee any problem,” Tandon said.On the implementation timeline, he added: “There is no commitment to a set date, but the ratification process has begun... There is hope that these readings will proceed quickly and the process will be completed sooner rather than later.”Trade and investment pushModi and Luxon also interacted with a select group of CEOs and business leaders, urging them to expand investments and commercial partnerships to help achieve the bilateral trade target by 2030.Describing the FTA as a landmark agreement, Modi said it would deepen economic ties and create new opportunities in market access, investment, services, technology and talent mobility.Praising India’s economic transformation under Modi’s leadership, Luxon described him as “one of the most important leaders of our time” and said the “21st century will be shaped by India.”On New Zealand’s announcement to facilitate up to US$20 billion in investments, Tandon said the focus was on building a long-term economic partnership rather than creating binding investment commitments.“The Prime Minister spoke about this extensively. There will be facilitation, but the real point is that enormous opportunities are opening up in India. We have a large market and are undertaking significant structural reforms,” he said.Maritime cooperationThe two sides also signed a Memorandum of Arrangement on Maritime Cooperation between India’s Ministry of Defence and the New Zealand Defence Force. The pact provides a framework for enhanced maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific through dialogue, coordination, information sharing and joint activities..Published on July 11, 2026