The recently announced Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand has run into opposition in the latter, with its foreign minister Winston Peters strongly criticising it, saying it is a “bad deal” for his country.
Peters, whose party New Zealand First is a partner in the ruling coalition led by the National Party, said the FTA was “neither free nor fair” and warned that his party would oppose it in parliament.
Also read: India-New Zealand free trade agreement: Here are the highlights
In a public statement shared on X, Peters argued that the deal gives away too much in India’s favour, particularly regarding immigration, while the gains for Wellington, especially in the all-important dairy sector, are not commensurate. Dairy exports made up about 30 per cent of its total goods exports (about $13.94 billion) in 2025, up to November.
Unequal deal
He pointed out that India has refused to reduce tariffs on New Zealand’s major dairy exports but New Zealand will fully open its market to Indian products. “Regrettably, this is a bad deal for New Zealand,” Peters said, adding that this would be New Zealand’s first trade agreement to exclude key dairy products such as milk, cheese and butter.
Peters has also raised concern about immigration concessions to India, including the creation of a new employment visa specifically for Indian citizens. He said despite economic pressures, New Zealand has offered India much greater access to its labour market than the UK or Australia did in their respective FTAs.
“New Zealand First looks at all proposed changes on migration from the same standpoint: do they protect the ability of New Zealanders to find meaningful employment as well as the integrity of our immigration system? The India deal fails that test. By creating a new employment visa specifically for Indian citizens, it is likely to generate far greater interest in Indian migration to New Zealand – at a time when we have a very tight labour market,” he wrote.
Also read: India, New Zealand seal free trade pact
Peters said his party had repeatedly urged the National Party not to rush into concluding a “low-quality” deal and has made it clear that it would vote against the deal in Parliament. “National preferred doing a quick, low-quality deal over doing the hard work necessary to get a fair deal that delivers for both New Zealanders and Indians,” he wrote.
However, Peters insisted that his party remained committed to strengthening ties with India and that the opposition to the FTA reflected differences within New Zealand’s coalition government and not with India.
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