Auckland [New Zealand], July 10 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Auckland on Friday. Upon his arrival, he was greeted by New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon. The two leaders shared a warm embrace.

PM Modi is visiting New Zealand at the invitation of Luxon. This is the first official visit of an Indian Prime Minister to New Zealand in four decades. In Auckland, Prime Minister will hold bilateral discussions with Prime Minister Luxon and review the entire gamut of the bilateral relationship, which has seen significant progress in the last two years, especially in the areas of trade and commerce and defence, as per a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs.

While in Auckland, Prime Minister will also interact with prominent business and sports personalities. In a reflection of the strong people-to-people ties that exist between India and New Zealand, Prime Minister will address a large gathering of the Indian Diaspora during the visit, as per MEA.

After the signing of Free Trade Agreement in April this year, the visit of Prime Minister Modi is expected to work as a catalyst and generate momentum in trade and bilateral relations. Both the PMs earlier held bilateral meeting in New Delhi on March 17, 2025 during the official visit of Prime Minister Christopher Luxon to India.

Before arriving in Auckland, PM Modi concluded a highly successful visit to Australia during which he participated in the third Australia-India Annual Leaders' Summit along with his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese

The visit marked a significant milestone in the two nations' six-year Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.The meeting, hosted in Melbourne, resulted in a landmark suite of agreements focused on reinforcing the Indo-Pacific's security architecture, securing critical mineral supply chains, and accelerating the transition to clean energy.

According to the joint statement, central to the summit was the release of a new Joint Declaration on Defence and Security Cooperation, which effectively replaces the 2009 security pact and deepens military integration.

'Australia values India as a top-tier security partner, and the Declaration reflects our shared commitment to a peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific region,' Prime Minister Albanese stated. 'We will boost strategic coordination, increase the complexity of our defence exercises and further build interoperability between our defence forces.'

Prime Minister Modi underscored the practical implications of this shift, noting the creation of an India-Australia Defence Innovation Corridor.

'Through the India-Australia Defence Innovation Corridor, we will work to connect defence startups and industries,' Modi said. 'Our maritime security collaboration roadmap will infuse new strength to our shared efforts in the Indo-Pacific.'

Another major breakthrough of the summit was the finalisation of the administrative arrangements required to implement the 2015 Australia-India Nuclear Cooperation Agreement. This milestone paves the way for the export of Australian uranium to India, exclusively for peaceful, IAEA-safeguarded civil nuclear energy programs. (ANI)