Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Sunday, 13 July 2026, highlighted remarks by New Zealand Prime Minister Chris Luxon, who described himself as 'a great fan of India' and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership and India's development trajectory during PM Modi's visit to New Zealand.

Context

Rijiju shared Luxon's remarks on X, noting that the New Zealand Prime Minister credited India's leadership with lifting 250 million people out of poverty and generating new economic opportunities through a rapidly expanding middle class. The post carried the hashtag #PMModiInNewZealand, signalling an active bilateral engagement at the highest level.

Luxon's comments, as relayed by Rijiju, reflect the kind of international endorsement that New Delhi has actively sought to amplify as part of its diplomatic messaging — framing India's economic rise not merely as a domestic achievement but as a globally recognised transformation.

Policy Backdrop

India and New Zealand share a bilateral relationship spanning trade, education, dairy, and technology sectors. Free trade agreement negotiations between the two countries, which were suspended in 2015, were formally resumed in 2022, with both sides expressing interest in expanded access across goods and services.

The poverty-reduction figure cited — 250 million people lifted out of poverty — aligns with data from India's multidimensional poverty assessments, which documented significant reduction between 2013-14 and 2022-23. India's growing middle class has increasingly become a centrepiece of the country's outreach to trade and investment partners across the Indo-Pacific.

Under successive Modi governments, India has deepened high-level diplomatic engagement across the Indo-Pacific, pairing visits to countries such as Australia, Japan, and ASEAN members with consistent economic messaging around poverty alleviation and middle-class growth. New Zealand fits squarely into this strategic pattern.

Stakeholders and Impact

The Indian diaspora in New Zealand — one of the fastest-growing migrant communities in the country — stands to benefit from closer bilateral ties, particularly in areas of skilled migration, education linkages, and trade facilitation. For Indian exporters and service providers, a concluded free trade agreement with Wellington could open new market access.

Trade negotiators on both sides will be closely watching any joint statements or announcements emerging from the visit, particularly regarding the status of FTA talks. Luxon's publicly warm remarks about India's leadership could provide political momentum for advancing those negotiations.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to whether PM Modi's visit to New Zealand yields a concrete diplomatic deliverable — most notably a joint statement on the trajectory of bilateral trade talks or a roadmap for concluding the long-pending free trade agreement. Any such announcement would mark a significant step in India's Indo-Pacific economic diplomacy and add substance to the goodwill expressed by Prime Minister Luxon.