New Zealand must pull its weight on defence and security, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says in a sit-down interview with RNZ, after talks with both India and China.

Main image

"There is surely no one with their eyes open now who believes we live in a benign strategic environment" - Winston Peters

New Zealand must pull its weight on defence and security, Foreign Minister Winston Peters says in a sit-down interview with RNZ, after talks with both India and China.

While trade was a driving force behind those engagements, it is clear tension points - like the South China Sea, and potential involvement in AUKUS - are becoming more central to foreign policy discussions in the Indo-Pacific.

Listen to the full podcast

With Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's commitment to secure a trade deal with India hanging over the coalition government, Peters this month travelled to the country which last year became the world's most populated. New Zealand has traditionally struggled to dismantle trade barriers with the growing economic powerhouse, in part because both countries have strong dairy industries neither wants to disadvantage.

Discussions included the potential for New Zealand to provide expertise in animal husbandry and breeding - but Peters' mission from the outset was focused on building the relationship and achieving some smaller economic wins. He came away with a list of 10 to 15 items New Zealand and India could work together on including on kiwifruit, Antarctica, and coastal shipping. International education is something of a jewel in New Zealand's crown in that relationship - and Peters says the government is determined to see it return to pre-Covid levels.

But security and defence were also a key topic - raised, Peters says, both by India's External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and its National Security Adviser Ajit Doval. Peters says Doval had "matters to share of concern" including around New Zealand's defence force and contribution to defence in the Asia Pacific.

"I'm not going to presage the Budget on the 30th of May other than to say we will not be gaining the influence and progress that we want if we don't have certain parts of our Budgetary assignment clearly of a respectable level."…

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details