Wellington: Amitabh Prasad, Joint Secretary at the Ministry of Defence, and Richard Schmidt, Deputy Secretary at New Zealand’s Ministry of Defence, co-chaired the 2nd India-New Zealand Defence Strategic Dialogue in Wellington, where they discussed advancing maritime security and joint training.
“Joint Secretary Shri Amitabh Prasad and Deputy Secretary, New Zealand Ministry of Defence, Mr Richard Schmidt co-chaired the 2nd India NZ Defence Strategic Dialogue in Wellington, New Zealand on August 24, 2026. The Dialogue focused on advancing maritime security, joint training and defence cooperation, while furthering the objectives of the Roadmap 2030,” the Ministry of Defence stated on X.
The delegation led by the Joint Secretary was welcomed by the High Commissioner of India to New Zealand, Muanpuii Saiawi.
In July, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid an official visit to New Zealand and held talks with his counterpart Christopher Luxon.
PM Modi said India and New Zealand will move ahead with clear goals and concrete outcomes after his talks with New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon in Auckland, highlighting expanded cooperation across trade, technology, investment, agriculture, defence, healthcare, education and culture.
In a post on X, PM Modi said his meeting with PM Luxon was “extensive and fruitful” and underlined the importance of recent high-level engagements in strengthening bilateral relations.
“Held extensive and fruitful talks with PM Luxon in Auckland this morning. His own visit to India last year energised our bilateral partnership and my visit today, the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 4 decades, has added further momentum to the India-New Zealand friendship. We have decided to elevate our ties to a Strategic Partnership. We will move forward across every sector with clear goals and concrete outcomes,” PM Modi posted on X.
The Prime Minister said the discussions covered several key areas aimed at expanding economic and strategic cooperation between the two countries.
“The areas which were prominently covered in the talks with PM Luxon include trade, technology and investment linkages. We have also developed a strong framework for cooperation in agriculture, dairy and food processing. Equally important is the emphasis on healthcare and traditional medicine. Our growing cooperation in defence and security reflects the deep strategic trust between our two countries. This is something we will build on as well,” PM Modi said in another post.
(IANS)
