Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday congratulated his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern for securing a second term in office. PM Modi said he looked forward to working together for taking the bilateral relationship to a higher level. "My heartiest congratulations to the PM of New Zealand Jacinda Ardern on her resounding victory. Recall our last meet a year ago and look forward to working together for taking India-NZ relationship to a higher level," Prime Minister Modi tweeted. On Saturday, Prime Minister Ardern had secured a landslide victory in New Zealand's general election and is now set to serve a second term.
PM Ardern gave a powerful victory speech where she said, "Tonight, New Zealand has shown the Labour Party its greatest support in at least 50 years."Ardern’s liberal Labour Party got 49 per cent of the vote, crushing the conservative National Party, which got 27 per cent. Ardern said the margin of the victory exceeded their expectations. The Labour Party will now get an outright majority in Parliament, the first time any party has achieved that since New Zealand implemented a proportional voting system 24 years ago. Typically parties have formed alliances to govern but this time Labour can go it alone. Ardern’s popularity soared earlier this year after she led a successful effort to halt the spread of the virus by implementing a strict lockdown in late March. New Zealand has had fewer than 2,000 cases of the virus including 25 deaths.