NZ - India Dialogue: Charting the Geopolitical Landscape of the Indo Pacific

We had a timely and bold start to our International Dialogue series with our partner Ananta Aspen Centre in New Delhi, on NZ-India relations. Sir Anand Satyanand, our moderator and former Governor General of NZ, set the stage by emphasising the need to elevate NZ and India's economic and security partnership to the 'next phase', especially given that India's Foreign Minister, Hon Subramaniam Jaishankar, declared last year that an FTA was no longer on the table. 

Our panellists, well-versed in India and NZ's foreign policy, engaged in an honest, open, and informative discussion, exploring numerous areas and opportunities to develop our bilateral relationship further whilst also pointing out the nuances of this relationship. 

During the discussion, Dr Jagannath Panda, Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA), highlighted the distinct approaches of NZ and India to global security issues, with NZ adopting a "collective" approach and India adopting a "co-operative" approach through its membership in the QUAD. Understanding these nuances is vital to forging stronger ties. 

Indrani Bagchi, CEO of Ananta Aspen Centre and former Assoc. Editor with the Times of India, explained India's reassessment of its current FTAs. Citing their perceived lack of benefit to India, they intend to shift away from the conventional trade model. Instead, India’s focus is on streamlining regulations, eliminating bureaucratic barriers, and facilitating direct entry into the Indian market, essentially bypassing the need for FTAs. 

Ms Bagchi emphasised several priorities to strengthen our bilateral ties, including the importance of addressing climate change, which is a common concern for both nations. Additionally, she underscored the significance of the blue economy and marine sector to both NZ and India, suggesting that a partnership in this area would be highly beneficial. Furthermore, exploring collaboration in technology and leveraging the potential of Bollywood and film-related travel, such as inviting Indian film operators to NZ, were discussed as potential avenues for growth. 

NZ High Commissioner to India, David Pine, highlighted the likely establishment within the next few years of direct flights between NZ and India, given the large Indian diaspora in NZ and the rapid pace at which airports are being developed in India. He also emphasised the need for stronger and deeper engagement between both countries. He stressed the importance of actively building better connections to enhance our connectivity and foster mutually beneficial partnerships, to take advantage of the significant opportunities present, and it was emphasised that we must be prepared to seize them. 

Education emerged as a vital aspect of the relationship, with lessons to be learned from past issues with Australia. Both Ms Bagchi and HC Pine stressed the significance of education, with maritime engineering being an example for NZ to pursue. Dr Panda pointed out the success of Canada and Australia in attracting students and suggested public campaigns offering high-quality programmes, fellowships, and job opportunities that would be effective for NZ to undertake. Dr Panda also recommended that NZ explore successful strategies employed by other small, geographically isolated nations from India, like the Nordic countries, to strengthen their ties with India. 

The discussion also acknowledged the prowess of Indian technology, particularly its advanced systems such as the India Stack and 'JAM' (low-cost digitally accessible bank accounts, biometric ID systems and mobiles). All panellists concurred on the importance of technology in areas like cybersecurity, space, and renewable energy and remarked how the scale and pace of change in India is remarkable, especially in the realm of technology. With a young and educated population embracing new ways and actively creating companies, India was acknowledged as standing "ahead of the curve" in many respects.  

Overall, the dialogue emphasised the multitude of opportunities and avenues for collaboration between NZ and India. By understanding the nuances and leveraging our respective strengths, there is much potential to build a mutually beneficial relationship.  

Join us in our next forum, which will explore Digital, Technology and High-end Engineering opportunities. 

If you missed this forum, you can watch a replay on our YouTube channel ‘Beyond Borders’ coming soon.

This article reflects the views of our moderator and panellists: 

Moderator  

Sir Anand Satyanand is a New Zealander with family links to Fiji and India.  A lawyer, judge and ombudsman during a professional career, he served as New Zealand’s 19th Governor-General from 2006 until 2011.  Since then he has worked internationally with the Commonwealth (chairing the Commonwealth Foundation in London for two terms) and with Transparency International.  Locally he has been a board member of the Asia New Zealand Foundation and remains an Honorary Adviser.  He is currently the Chancellor of the University of Waikato which has campuses in Hamilton and Tauranga, and is Patron of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs.   

Panellists 

David Pine is New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India. He is also Ambassador to Nepal and High Commissioner to Bangladesh. An experienced diplomat, David was NZ’s High Commissioner to Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam from 2011 until 2014. He had previously served in New York, Canberra, Kuala Lumpur and as Ambassador to the Philippines (2006-2008). In Wellington, he held a number of policy roles, including as the Director of MFAT’s Economic Division. Outside of his Diplomatic career, David worked as a private advisor for a range of companies and individuals including ASEAN Advisory, KYS Aventura, San Miguel Corporation, Christchurch City Council, the University of Otago and the International Rugby Academy of New Zealand (IRANZ), as well as to the New Zealand Government. 

Indrani Bagchi is the Chief Executive Officer of Ananta Aspen Centre. She was Associate Editor with the Times of India, reporting and analysing the newspaper's foreign policy issues from 2004 until 2022. As Diplomatic Editor, Indrani covered the Ministry of External Affairs on her news beat and interpreted and analyzed global trends with an Indian perspective. Earlier, Indrani worked with India Today, a premier news magazine, The Economic Times and The Statesman.     

Dr Jagannath Panda is the Head of the Stockholm Center for South Asian and Indo-Pacific Affairs (SCSA-IPA). He is also the Editor for ISDP.  In addition to his primary appointment at ISDP, Dr Panda is the Director for Europe-Asia Research Cooperation at the Yokosuka Council on Asia-Pacific Studies (YCAPS); and a Senior Fellow at The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies (HCSS), The Netherlands.  He is the Series Editor for Routledge Studies on Think Asia, and also the Editorial Board Member of the Journal of Asian Public Policy (JAPP: Routledge). Dr Panda is the author of several books. His recent work includes Quad Plus and Indo-Pacific (Routledge: 2021); Scaling India-Japan Cooperation in Indo-Pacific and Beyond 2025 (KW Publishing Ltd. 2019), and The Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific Power Politics: Status Security at Stake (Routledge, 2020), India-Japan-ASEAN Triangularity (Routledge: 2022), and the Future of Korean Peninsula: Korea 2032 and Beyond (Routledge: 2021).