Deputy PM of New Zealand Winston Peters arrives in Delhi for bilateral talks

New Delhi [India], March 12 (ANI): New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters, who is on an official visit to India, arrived in New Delhi on Monday evening.

Winston Peters is on an official visit to India from March 10 to 13 at the invitation of External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had said in a statement.

New Zealand’s Deputy PM is on his first visit to India after the new government in New Zealand assumed office in November 2023. He had earlier visited India as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister in February 2020, the MEA added.

New Zealand’s Deputy PM Winston Peters arrived in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad on Sunday night. On Monday, Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a meeting with Winston Peters in Gandhinagar.

In New Delhi, EAM S Jaishankar and Deputy Prime Minister Peters are scheduled to hold a bilateral meeting on Tuesday (March 12, 2024). The two leaders are expected to discussion bilateral relationship between the two nations.

New Zealand’s Deputy PM is also scheduled to have meetings with other dignitaries during his visit to India.

India and New Zealand share warm and friendly relations based on the commonalities of democratic traditions and shared values bolstered by strong people-to-people ties.

The two countries are engaging in cooperation across a wide range of areas, including trade and economy, defence and security, education and research, and environment and climate change, the MEA release concluded.

Bilateral relations were established in 1952 between India and New Zealand. New Zealand has identified India as a priority country in its “Opening Doors to India” policy notified in October 2011, which was reiterated by New Zealand in 2015. (ANI)