Peters jokes about visiting Indian minister's name
'Minister of State Margherita,' he said. 'What a fascinating name, that. We wait to find out what the background is.'
It was directed at Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita, who had just arrived for his first visit to New Zealand.
Some greeted Peters' joke with polite laughter at the India-New Zealand Business Council meeting at Auckland's Pullman Hotel. Among those present were Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, diplomats and business leaders.
But others interpreted it as ridiculing the minister's name, likening it to a tequila cocktail or a pizza.
Narendra Bhana, immediate past president of the New Zealand Indian Central Association, expressed his discomfort with Peter's words. 'In this day and age, to be perfectly honest with you, I think this comment was totally uncalled for,' Bhana said.
'New Zealand is a multicultural society. Indians integrate really well with the various communities in New Zealand, and we're proud of our culture. And personally I feel that comment was totally uncalled for.'
Wellington Indian Association president Manisha Morar agreed. 'New Zealand is a multicultural country now, and so we're really used to having a lot of migrants coming into the country, and people are a lot more accepting of things,' she said.
'If we're not showing respect to a minister from India who's come here, then I think we've still got a long way to go about learning about cultural appropriation.'
'As a community, we're beyond that. We've moved and progressed.' Ajaz Patel, NZ cricketer
The visit from Margherita is important to the New Zealand Government, and to business relations.
Luxon campaigned on getting a free trade deal with India, and he took a big delegation to India in March, as talks kicked off.
That's continued a long history of hard-won trust between the two countries, dating back to newly elected Prime Minister David Lange's meeting with Indira Gandhi in October 1984, just three weeks before she was assassinated.
The relationship hit a low in 2010, with public outrage at TVNZ host Paul Henry' on-air comments about Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, ridiculing her surname live on air. He had already been suspended for suggesting the Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand, of Fijian-Indian heritage, was not a real New Zealander. Henry resigned over the incidents.
But in the subsequent 15 years, the relationship has gone from strength to strength – and this week, its breadth was on show – from business to education to tourism to sport.
Black Caps star bowler Ajaz Patel, who was born in Mumbai and migrated to New Zealand when he was eight years old, was at the summit to discuss the role of sport in diplomacy and business.
He told Newsroom that values like loyalty, honesty, friendship and respect were important to the India-New Zealand relationship.
He didn't hear Peters' speech, so was unwilling to comment directly on the quip, but he did say he was uncomfortable with making jokes about people's names. 'As a community, we're beyond that. We've moved and progressed. So, for me personally, that's that's my personal opinion. But what other people do and say, I can't really comment.'
Margherita, himself, seemed to laugh off the Deputy Prime Minister's comment. 'It's an interesting history, actually,' he told Newsroom afterwards.
Margherita is a town in the state of Assam, in the northeastern part of India – a state famous for its tea, not for tequila cocktails. 'Margherita, my surname, is the name of the town I hail from. Margherita is my birthplace.
'Margherita is a common surname in Italy, and yes, Margherita is a popular cocktail and a popular pizza also. But in my state of Assam, it's my hometown.'
Peters defended his comment. 'Interest in one another's origins is a core part of diplomacy,' he said through a spokesperson, later in the day.
Peters was interested in the etymology of Margherita's name and asked him about it during their face-to-face meeting later in the day, his spokesperson added.
'Minister Margherita explained that he takes his name from his hometown in the northeastern Indian state of Assam. His hometown, in turn, was named after the Queen of Italy – because of Italian railway engineers who worked there in the late 19th century.'
Late on Friday, after the two ministers met, Peters posted on Twitter that they had discussed the recent progress made in the India-New Zealand relationship across a wide range of sectors.
He highlighted their discussions on a broad-based agenda for bilateral security and economic cooperation; achieving a mutually beneficial outcome to free trade agreement negotiations; the two countries' shared interests in the Pacific region and the Indo-Pacific; the terrorist attack in Kashmir last month and New Zealand's support for de-escalation between India and Pakistan.
Speaking to Newsroom, Margherita said New Zealand was 'always important' to India. 'We have a very strong relationship,' he said. 'Right at this moment, both countries are negotiating on a free trade agreement. So we have immense potential in the many domains of business and trade and commerce.
'New Zealand is always a preferred destination for our investors, our industries … our business houses,' he added. 'Bilateral trade has increased in the last decades.'
He declined to comment on how the global trade turmoil sparked by US President Donald Trump's tariffs might affect India-New Zealand trade.
'We have a strong relation with America. America is a very traditional friend for us in art and culture and business. We are negotiating with America and definitely, it will yield a very good positive result.
'So relations with America are always good, and relation between India and New Zealand are always good. It's a different issue. We cannot combine it together.'
He said Luxon's visit had been welcomed in India, not just by the Modi Government but also by the wider population. 'His visit is a testament of our deep relations, and we have already signed many MoUs between both the countries. His visit has leveraged our trade and commerce and other relations to the next level.'
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