"Neither free nor fair": The foreign minister of New Zealand complains to the free trade agreement with India

Winston Peters, the foreign minister of New Zealand, claimed that the agreement was detrimental to his nation because it gave away too much without receiving much in return.

Winston Peters, the foreign minister of New Zealand, said on Monday that the recently announced free trade deal (FTA) with India was "neither free nor fair" and expressed strong opposition to it.

Peters claimed that the pact was detrimental to New Zealand because it gave away too much without receiving much in return in a long X post.

According to Peters, his New Zealand First (NZF) party has urged its coalition partner to strive for the greatest deal possible. He said that it has been suggested that signing such a pact would be foolish in the absence of a clear legislative majority.

"New Zealand First urged its coalition partner not to rush into concluding a low-quality deal with India, and to use all three years of this Parliamentary cycle in order to get the best possible deal," a portion of Peters' article said.

Peters went on, "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."

The foreign minister of New Zealand added that although the nation had completely opened its market to India, tariff barriers on the country's main dairy exports had not been lowered in return.

"This is not a good deal for farmers in New Zealand, and our rural people cannot defend it. According to Peters, the India Free Trade Agreement would be New Zealand's first trade agreement to exclude our main dairy products, such as milk, cheese, and butter.

Additionally, Peters contended that several provisions of the FTA concentrate on facilitating Indian immigration to New Zealand and boosting investment flows into India rather than facilitating two-way commerce. He said that neither Australia nor the UK had the same access to New Zealand's labor market as India did under the agreement.

"New Zealand First considers all proposed immigration adjustments from the same perspective: do they safeguard both the integrity of our immigration system and the ability of New Zealanders to find meaningful employment? That test is not met by the India deal. He went on, "At a time when we have a very tight labor market, it is likely to generate far greater interest in Indian migration to New Zealand by creating a new employment visa specifically for Indian citizens."

Following the announcement of the free trade agreement between the two nations by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his New Zealand colleague Christopher Luxon, who claimed that it could quadruple bilateral trade in five years and result in investments of $20 billion in India over the next 15 years.

The deal's negotiations started in March. The deal demonstrated the "shared ambition and political will to further deepen ties," according to PM Modi and Luxon.

Soon later, Winston Peters criticized the FTA. He stated that he has discussed NZF's opinions with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and that he has the highest regard for him.