Latest news with #KiwiIndians
RNZ News
12-05-2025
- Politics
- RNZ News
India consular delays caused by errors related to application payments
Indian High Commissioner to New Zealand Neeta Bhushan has rebuffed criticism on social media regarding delays in consular services provided by the Indian mission in Wellington and the new consulate general in Auckland . Kiwi Indians have been increasingly critical on social media of delays they have encountered in receiving consular services such as passport renewals and visa applications in recent months, especially if refunds were involved. Speaking at an event in Auckland on Friday to welcome Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita, Bhushan said many applicants in the top of the North Island were mistakenly sending fees accompanying their applications to Wellington. "We are facing a major problem in providing timely and efficient services," Bhushan said. "There are a large number of applicants living in Northland, Auckland and Waikato who should send their applications along with the relevant fees to the consulate general in Auckland, but they are not doing that. "While they send their applications to the consulate in Auckland, they send the fees to the Wellington mission. "Later they realise their mistake and ask for refunds. ... We have no problem in doing that - it's our duty - but it delays the entire process. Neeta Bhushan is India's high commissioner to New Zealand. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom Bhushan said about half of her staff's time was being spent on processing refunds. "In the last month alone, we have refunded about $100,000 to applicants. If you add the last three [or] four months, the amount of refunds we have issued would cross $400,000," she said. "More than that, we are not able to provide timely services to those applicants." As reported earlier, the Indian consulate in Auckland offers services related to passports, Indian citizenship, attestation of documents, police certificates, birth and death certificates, liquor permits and non-resident Indian certificates, among other things. It also issues necessary certificates for the repatriation of deceased individuals' remains or ashes to India. The consulate's jurisdiction covers Auckland, Northland and Waikato. Madan Mohan Sethi, consulate general of India in Auckland, said the situation would improve once his office was fully staffed in a few months. "All efforts are being made to streamline the processes at our end," Sethi said. "We aim to start providing all consular services here in Auckland soon, including OCI [Overseas Citizen of India] and visa services." Pabitra Margherita is India's minister of state for external affairs. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom Margherita told attendees at the community event on Friday that he was delighted to see the Indian community's positive contributions to New Zealand. "It is heartening to see that our community here has been an integral part of the social fabric of this beautiful country," he said. "Your dedication and hard work have not only uplifted you and your families but also have added immense value to broader New Zealand society," he said. "India and New Zealand share a deep, multifaceted and friendly relationship." The Indian minister met Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Trade Minister Todd McClay during his three-day visit. He also spoke with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon on the sidelines of a summit organised by the India New Zealand Business Council on Friday morning . The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade provided some detail on the talks between Peters and Margherita in a social media post on Friday. The two ministers discussed the progress made in the India-New Zealand relationship across a wide range of sectors, including a "broad-based agenda for bilateral security and economic cooperation", the ministry said. "[They discussed] achieving a mutually beneficial outcome to free trade agreement negotiations, our shared interests in the Indo-Pacific, the terrorist attack in Kashmir and New Zealand's support for de-escalation between India and Pakistan, and the Pacific Islands region."
RNZ News
09-05-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Luxon calls for an ‘all of New Zealand' investment in India relationship
Calling India a major geopolitical power and a significant global and regional security actor, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has reiterated the importance of the South Asian nation to New Zealand. "Our relationship with India is so significant that I want to see an 'all of New Zealand' effort, with government, business and community all moving in the same direction," Luxon said in a keynote speech at the India New Zealand Business Council summit on Friday. Pabritra Margherita, India's minister of state for external affairs, attended the Auckland event as part of his three-day visit to New Zealand. "The wider Kiwi-Indian community also has a very important role as - in Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi's words - the 'living bridge' between New Zealand and India," Luxon said. "The 300,000-strong Indian community is the third-largest ethnic group in New Zealand. India is our largest source of skilled migrants and our second-largest source of international students. "A point I made to Prime Minister Modi was that Kiwi-Indians are on average younger, better educated and have greater earnings than the general New Zealand population. "In short, Indian-Kiwis are making a massive contribution to New Zealand." Referencing his recent visit to India, Luxon highlighted the "immense" opportunities the country provided to New Zealand businesses. "Despite India's growth and scale, it still only accounts for 1.5 percent of our exports. We are working hard to change that," Luxon said. "The launch of [free trade negotiations] is a breakthrough in the economic relationship between India and New Zealand." Luxon promised to maintain the momentum in the relationship. "[We] will increase our diplomatic footprint in India by more than 60 percent, underscoring our commitment to the relationship and our ambition to see it grow further," he said. Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Pabitra Margherita (far left), New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Foreign Minister Winston Peters and Indian High Commissioner Neeta Bhushan attend an India New Zealand Business Council summit in Auckland on Friday. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom Margherita urged the New Zealand government to look at India's instant bank payment system - the Unified Payment Interface (UPI). "There are over 1 billion UPI transactions happening in India every month," Margherita said. "I certainly hope we can work out a proposal of cooperation in digital payments between India and New Zealand." Repeating comments to the media on Thursday, Luxon called for India and Pakistan to de-escalate hostilities that have left nearly four dozen people dead in two days of fighting between the nuclear-armed neighbours. "On 22 April, India suffered a devastating terrorist attack in Jammu and Kashmir. New Zealand condemns terrorism, and we sent our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the attack," Luxon said. "Since then, we have seen an escalation in tension and military activity. We encourage both India and Pakistan to show restraint at this difficult moment and try to de-escalate the situation. "The situation in Jammu and Kashmir reminds us that we face an increasingly difficult and uncertain strategic outlook, including in the Indo-Pacific region that India and New Zealand share." Foreign Minister Winston Peters offered to help get the situation between India and Pakistan under control. "We are looking forward to meeting this afternoon with Minister of State Margherita to discuss our building bilateral relationship," Peters said. "This meeting will also provide an opportunity for us to exchange views on the heinous terrorist attack in Kashmir last month, developments between India and Pakistan in the last few days and New Zealand's wish to help support a seriously rapid de-escalation of the situation." New Zealand's foreign minister also lauded India's global rise in recent decades. "There are few countries in the world that have been so dramatically transformed over the past 35 years as has India," Peters said. "We have seen hundreds of millions of Indians lifted out of poverty; huge improvements in education, health and life expectancy; and a breathtaking economic expansion. "And all of this has been achieved while maintaining India's proud democratic tradition of settling the inevitable differences that emerge in a country of such immense scale and diversity at the ballot box. "India's rise has been a force for good in our region and for our world." Fonterra's Simon Tucker (left), Ashok Malik of The Asia Group (centre) and Zespri CEO Jason Te Brake (right) during a panel discussion at the India New Zealand Business Council summit in Auckland on Friday. Photo: RNZ / Blessen Tom The India New Zealand Business Council unveiled its annual report at the event, with chair Bharat Chawla calling the relationship between the two countries "heading in the right direction with plenty of hard work still to go". "Ongoing investment is needed in growing 'India capability' in New Zealand businesses," Chawla said. "[Some] work remains for the private sector and the government to address long-standing issues around mobility and two-way investment." Simon Tucker, director global external affairs for the dairy giant Fonterra, carried the argument further, calling the ongoing free trade negotiations "an exciting and significant step". "We are looking for high-value niche in the Indian market," Tucker said. "For example, we can look at supplying specialised proteins, which will be complimentary to the Indian dairy market. "[We] face many tariff and non-tariff barriers when trading there. Our hope is that a free trade agreement between our two countries will address some of these issues." Jason Te Brake, chief executive of Kiwifruit export company Zespri, referenced the recently signed Kiwifruit Cooperation Agreement, noting how the company is partnering with local Indian growers to increase its footprint in the country every year. "We have increased our distribution partners [from two] to three now, and our exports have also increased by almost 50 percent year on year," Brake said. Ashok Malik, chair of the Indian subsidiary of consulting firm The Asia Group, assured the industry leaders about India's desire to get the free trade agreement across the line. "The very fact India is negotiating free trade agreements with New Zealand and the US means there is some recognition of the need [for imports that include dairy]," Malik said. "There's certainly a pathway. [For example] there may be opportunities for certain types of cheese but not mass-market cheese." Peters highlighted the potential between New Zealand and India. "Given the serious progress our two countries have made in the last 18 months, now is the time to work to realise that potential," Peters said.
