Trade Minister Todd McClay. Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
If New Zealand does not have a free trade agreement with India by the end of this term, the trade minister is to blame.
That is what Todd McClay told select committee on Thursday when asked by his Labour counterpart, Damien O'Connor, if Christopher Luxon was going to pull off his promise to secure a deal in the next two years.
"He's ambitious for New Zealand, if he doesn't it's my fault, not his, because he's given me the job," McClay said.
There has been a number of visits between the two countries and governments already in the past year as the coalition ramps up its presence overseas and looks for new and upgraded trade deals.
McClay has visited India three times this year, and engaged with his Indian counter-part, Piyush Goyal, another three times abroad.
As far as McClay was concerned, the "relationship is in the best place it has been for a while, yet there is still more work to do before we can start talking about any type of trade architecture", he told MPs.
Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters has also visited India, and New Zealand hosted Indian President Droupadi Murmu for the first time ever.
Indian Prime Minister Narenda Modi invited Luxon to visit next year when they met on the sidelines at the East Asia Summit in Laos in October.
Luxon has been determined to deepen relations with India after National campaigned on securing an FTA with India in its first term.
It is a pledge trade experts have described as highly ambitious given dairy is such an important industry to both countries.
In October, Luxon stood by his commitment saying he was absolutely still working towards it.
To strike a deal by 2026, formal negotiations would need to start next year.
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