Prime Minister Narendra Modi waves before departing for Auckland, New Zealand, after concluding his visit to Australia, at Melbourne Airport.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (July 10, 2026) arrived in New Zealand on the final leg of his three-nation visit.
He will hold talks with his counterpart Christopher Luxon and address the Indian diaspora in New Zealand.
Mr. Modi was received by Mr. Luxon at the airport, where the two leaders exchanged a warm hug. “Reached Auckland a short while ago. Thankful to Prime Minister Luxon for the welcome at the airport,” Mr. Modi said in a post on X.
‘Historic visit’
“This visit is historic, being the first Prime Ministerial visit to New Zealand in four decades. I look forward to holding talks with Prime Minister Luxon and discussing the complete range of the India-NZ friendship. I will also be addressing a community programme tomorrow in Auckland,” he said.
In a post on X, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said: “This historic visit is set to strengthen bilateral ties and unlock new avenues of cooperation across several areas especially trade, defence, sports, culture, education, and people-to-people exchanges.”
Calling it as a “special welcome in Auckland!”, the MEA in another post on X said the iconic Sky Tower was illuminated to mark Mr. Modi’s visit to New Zealand, “symbolising the friendship between our two countries”.
In his departure statement in New Delhi, the Prime Minister had said that his visit would “meaningfully build” upon the strong momentum in India-New Zealand ties pursuant to Mr. Luxon’s visit to India in March 2025.
Mr. Modi said his visit to Indonesia, Australia, and New Zealand will further strengthen India’s Act East Policy, MAHASAGAR Vision, as well as its outlook towards a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Boosting trade ties
During his two-day visit to New Zealand, he will hold talks with Mr. Luxon on ways to further enhance economic, trade and commercial engagements.
Mr. Modi arrived in New Zealand after concluding a three-day visit to Australia, where he held summit talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. Both leaders reinforced the vital role of the bilateral partnership in ensuring a peaceful Indo-Pacific. A major highlight of the summit talks between the two leaders was their focus on significantly ramping up defence ties, especially in the maritime domain.
An agreement on civil nuclear energy to facilitate the commercial supply of uranium from Australia to India to fuel New Delhi’s nuclear power projects was sealed after over two years of negotiations.
Mr. Modi also met Australian’s Leader of Opposition Angus Taylor on Friday and discussed bilateral ties.
“They held productive discussions on the growing India-Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. The warm and cordial meeting reflected the strong bipartisan support in Australia for deepening ties with India,” MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on X.
Mr. Modi was in Indonesia before that, where 14 agreements were inked to boost cooperation in critical minerals, maritime security and other key sectors.
Published – July 10, 2026 12:39 pm IST
