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New Delhi: India and New Zealand on Monday (December 22) announced the conclusion of negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA), but the deal immediately exposed a coalition rift in Wellington, with the New Zealand First party refusing to back it and leaving the government dependent on opposition votes to pass enabling legislation.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his New Zealand counterpart, Christopher Luxon, announced this during a telephone conversation, with both governments portraying the pact as historic and mutually beneficial.

However, almost immediately, New Zealand First leader and foreign minister Winston Peters declared the deal was “neither free nor fair” and confirmed his party would vote against it in the parliament.

“This is a bad deal for New Zealand,” Peters said in a statement. “It gives too much away, especially on immigration, and does not get enough in return for New Zealanders, including on dairy.”

The opposition Labour Party has indicated it would step in to salvage the legislation. Labour’s trade spokesman Damien O’Connor said his party was inclined to support the agreement despite some reservations. “From what I’ve seen this is an agreement worth supporting, while it may not be anything we wanted,” O’Connor said, adding that a deal with the world’s most populous nation was significant even without comprehensive dairy access.

Prime Minister Luxon said he was confident the government would secure passage of the legislation. “We’ve seen a lot of good bipartisan support for trade across the Parliament, and we’ll continue to build the case for that,” he said,........

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