Overview
- In an interview published July 8, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon used Narendra Modi’s upcoming trip to New Zealand to argue that New Zealand, working with India and like-minded partners, must remake the case for a rules-based international order.
- Luxon described a global inflection point where a rules-based, multilateral system is slipping toward a power-based, multipolar one because of shifts in US policy, China’s regional ambitions, and Russia’s actions in Europe.
- He identified three pillars for a deeper India–New Zealand partnership—economic ties, defence and security cooperation, and people-to-people links—and urged both governments to expand work across those areas.
- Luxon promoted New Zealand’s managed, skills-focused immigration as a 'huge opportunity' to attract Indian talent, stressing legal entry, targeted rules tied to labour needs, and capacity for housing, schools and health services.
- He backed institutional reform to give Global South countries greater voice in post‑World War II institutions and argued that small, open economies like New Zealand have benefited from rules that protect them from coercion by larger powers.