By Sahil Pandey
Vientiane [Laos], October 10 : New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that he is a big fan of India and also admired the country tremendously, following his bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Vientiane on Wednesday.
"I am a big fan of India. It is a country I love and admire tremendously. Indians back home have done exceptionally well in New Zealand. They're very inspiring. They work incredibly hard. It was really a fantastic meeting and we look forward to continuing to deepen and broaden that relationship as well," PM Luxon told ANI. The New Zealand PM also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited him to India as well.
"He (PM Modi) very kindly invited us to India and we'll work with officials on the right timing for that. But there'll be a lot of enthusiasm back home in New Zealand as we will bring a big delegation as well, looking at the opportunities to work together," he added.
He also called the meeting with PM Modi 'fantastic' and determined to build deeper relationships with India.
"It was fantastic. It was a real privilege to talk with him and we'd spoken on the phone. I'm very determined to build a deeper, broader, stronger relationship with India. New Zealand and India should be great friends," Luxon said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Prime Minister of New Zealand Christopher Luxon met on the sidelines of the ASEAN-India Summit today. This was the first meeting between the two leaders.
"Had an excellent meeting with the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Mr. Christopher Luxon. We value our friendship with New Zealand, bound together by a commitment to democracy, freedom and rule of law. Our talks covered sectors such as economic cooperation, tourism, education and innovation," PM Modi said in an X post.
In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs said that both leaders discussed ways for the advancement of bilateral cooperation, including trade, investment, defence, security, education, agri-tech, climate change, sports, tourism and space.
According to the statement, MEA said, "The two Prime Ministers discussed ways to strengthen bilateral cooperation across a range of areas, including trade and investment, defence and security, renewable energy, education, dairy, agri-tech, sports, tourism, space, and people-to-people ties. They noted that frequent high-level contacts have imparted a strong momentum to bilateral relations. In this context, they recalled the recent visit of the President of India to New Zealand, which was a huge success."
Prime Minister Modi also welcomed New Zealand's decision to join the International Solar Alliance, the statement read.
Both Prime Ministers renewed their commitment to further strengthen cooperation in multilateral fora and reiterated their commitment to take the India-New Zealand relationship to greater heights.
As per MEA, Prime Minister Modi extended an invitation to Prime Minister Luxon to visit India on mutually convenient dates, which he accepted.
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