India FTA terms changed covertly to block immigrants, says New Zealand minister

New Zealand's ruling party has covertly changed the terms of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed with India to prevent the immigration of Indian students and workers, alleged Winston Peters, the foreign minister and head of New Zealand First. Peters's party is part of the coalition headed by the National Party, which denied his claims.

New Zealand's Foreign Minister and leader of the right-wing New Zealand First party, Winston Peters, has accused the ruling National Party of quietly altering immigration rules under the recently signed India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to impose stricter conditions specifically targeting Indian nationals. Following the signing of the trade agreement in April this year, the draft deal is currently before the New Zealand Parliament for formal ratification.

Peters alleged that the National Party was keeping the Indian government in the dark about these shifts, and that officials had warned ministers that the proposed changes could damage bilateral ties with New Delhi.

Peters's party is part of the three-party coalition headed by the New Zealand National Party. He previously served as the country's Deputy Prime Minister until May 2025 under a coalition role-sharing agreement.

During the bill’s first reading on Thursday (June 25) as part of the ratification process, Peters, alleged that the government had "covertly" changed course after negotiating initial migration concessions with India. He cited a confidential briefing of Immigration Minister Erica Stanford from officials of the department to back up his claims. Peters declined to make public the details, citing Cabinet confidentiality rules.

"We have recently discovered that there has been an abrupt change of course – with changes being made to immigration settings which target Indians and Indians alone," Peters said in a statement published on X.

The issue of immigration comes up as the coalition partners spar among themselves ahead of the general election in New Zealand in November.

OFFICIALS WARNED FTA CHANGES WILL HURT TIES WITH INDIA: NEW ZEALAND MINISTER

Winston Peters, whose New Zealand First party governs in a three-way coalition alongside the National Party and ACT New Zealand, claimed that immigration officials explicitly warned ministers that the proposed changes could damage bilateral ties with New Delhi, hurt New Zealand's reputation, and invite legal challenges or trade retaliation.

"Officials have warned Ministers that these changes could have impacts on our bilateral relationship with India and our reputation as a place to do business, and be open to legal challenge or retaliation from India," he stated, adding that officials allegedly discussed "the importance of these changes not being publicly announced for fear of the Indian reaction".

Notably, Peters's latest allegations mark a change of stance from his earlier position on the India-New Zealand FTA.

Despite being part of the governing coalition, Peters had fiercely opposed the agreement, arguing it would lead to "open-slather immigration from India to New Zealand". He is now accusing the National Party of quietly rewriting immigration rules to do the exact opposite—imposing restrictions that "target Indians and Indians alone".

In other words, Peters has shifted from warning that the FTA would make it too easy for Indians to migrate to New Zealand to alleging that the government has covertly made it harder for Indians to do so.

NEW ZEALAND CHANGING FTA TO MAKE IT DISCRIMINATORY TO INDIANS, ALLEGES PETERS

During his speech in Parliament, parts of which he later reproduced in a statement on X, Peters claimed to have obtained an "official briefing" submitted to Immigration Minister Erica Stanford. Citing the document, he alleged it showed that "immigration policy settings are being made more restrictive in a way which targets India and India alone".

Quoting from the briefing, the foreign minister said officials warned Stanford that the proposed changes would "have impacts on our bilateral and trade relations with India and potentially on New Zealand's reputation as a place to do business". He further alleged that Stanford had approved measures that would treat Indian citizens less favourably than nationals of other countries covered by comparable FTAs.

Importantly, Peters alleged that the National Party was actively keeping the Indian government in the dark about these shifts, charging that officials had explicitly discussed "the importance of these changes not being publicly announced for fear of the Indian reaction".

According to Peters, the unannounced changes would impose a labour market or economic needs test only on Indian citizens, bar them from applying for temporary employment entry visas from within New Zealand, restrict visa provisions for their partners and children, and prevent them from counting work experience on temporary employment visas towards residency requirements.

"The Indian Government has the right to know about National's intention to treat Indian citizens in a discriminatory manner relative to citizens of other FTA partners, such as China, Thailand, or South Korea," Peters said in his statement on X.

Although New Zealand First had opposed including migration concessions in the India FTA altogether, Peters argued that "if additional restrictions are applied to Indians travelling to New Zealand under this FTA, the only consistent and principled step would be to apply these restrictions to citizens of all FTA partners."

NEW ZEALAND RULING PARTY REJECTS ALLEGATIONS

Trade Minister and member of the New Zealand National Party, Todd McClay, rejected Peters's claims, saying they were "wrong".

"They've consistently failed to support important trade agreements that are in the best interests of New Zealand. Whilst they are free to differentiate themselves in respect of the FTA, they should stop promoting misinformation for the sake of gaining votes," McClay was quoted as saying by the New Zealand-based broadcaster, RNZ.

The FTA bill passed its first reading by 93 votes to 29 on Thursday, with support from the ruling National Party, coalition partner ACT and the opposition Labour Party, while New Zealand First and other parties opposed it.

Defending the agreement in Parliament, McClay was quoted by RNZ as saying, "This once-in-a generation agreement gives our exporters unprecedented access to 1.4 billion people. It will help diversify our export markets and will support the goal of doubling the value of our exports over 10 years." He also said the FTA marked "the start of a new and exciting chapter" in New Zealand's relationship with India.

NEW ZEALAND MINISTER REFUSES TO PROVIDE EVIDENCE ON INDIA FTA CLAIMS

Foreign Minister Peters based his allegations on what he described as an official briefing and related immigration decisions but declined to release the documents publicly. Asked during an interview with RNZ to produce the briefing which he claimed to have accessed, Peters refused, citing Parliamentary rules. "I'm not going to be caught like that. That would be... acting outside Cabinet rules," he told RNZ.

He later defended raising the issue in Parliament, saying, "How can you possibly, in a first-world democracy that's been going since 1854 have a debate when the details are being kept from the people in the Parliament itself?" Peters was reported as stating by RNZ, referring to the alleged covert changes being made to the FTA with India

New Zealand First refused RNZ's requests to release the document quoted by Peters, while Immigration Minister Stanford's office directed requests through the Official Information Act process.

RNZ reported that the dispute has deepened divisions within New Zealand's governing coalition, with Peters accusing National of concealing policy changes while National insists the allegations are false and politically motivated.

Peters urged Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, Trade Minister Todd McClay and Immigration Minister Erica Stanford to publicly clarify the proposed immigration settings before the FTA legislation is passed. "There must be equitable treatment for citizens of all countries coming into New Zealand under our various FTAs. Discriminatory treatment is not the New Zealand way," he said.

WHAT ARE IMMIGRATION RELATED PROVISIONS IN THE INDIA-NEW ZEALAND FTA?

Even as the coalition parties spar over the issue of immigration provisions granted (or restricted, as Peters has alleged) to Indians, what does the India-New Zealand FTA actually say on the issue?

The India-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (FTA), signed on April 27, allows Indian nationals to work in New Zealand on a temporary basis to help address the country's shortage of skilled workers, while explicitly excluding any automatic pathway to permanent residency. As mentioned earlier, the agreement is currently awaiting ratification by the New Zealand Parliament and its first reading was approved on Thursday.

Under the FTA, New Zealand will issue about 1,667 three-year Temporary Employment Entry (TEE) visas annually for Indian nationals, capped at 5,000 holders at any time. Most are reserved for Green List occupations such as healthcare, teaching, ICT and engineering, while about 200 are earmarked for professions, including yoga instructors, musicians, chefs and Ayurvedic practitioners. The visas are non-renewable, require job offers and qualifications, and do not provide an automatic pathway to permanent residency.

The agreement also creates 1,000 annual Working Holiday visas for young Indians, expands student work rights and post-study visas, and eases temporary entry for contractual service suppliers. The New Zealand government says these measures are designed to meet short-term labour needs without altering overall immigration policy.

IS ELECTION IN NEW ZEALAND BEHIND CLAIMS REGARDING INDIA FTA?

Whether the New Zealand National Party is actually considering changes to the FTA's immigration provisions remains unclear. Peters has so far refused to release the officials' briefing he cites, while the government has dismissed his allegations as "misinformation."

That said, the debate comes amid growing anti-immigration sentiment in New Zealand, particularly directed at people of Indian and South Asian origin. RNZ, citing New Zealand Police hate crime data, reported that "people of South Asian descent have copped the most hate as victims of reported racist abuse in New Zealand", with 4,767 hate incidents involving South Asian victims recorded between January 2022 and October 2025.

Immigration has also become an increasingly contentious political issue. Following the signing of the India-New Zealand FTA, New Zealand First deputy leader Shane Jones said he would not support a "butter chicken tsunami" of migrants, while Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown sparked controversy after referring to an Indian RNZ staff member as a "Muslim terrorist".

With New Zealand set to hold a general election in November, immigration has once again become a political flashpoint. Although an Ipsos survey found that only 6% of New Zealanders ranked immigration among their top three concerns, polling by Talbot Mills showed New Zealand First supporters were the least likely of any major party's voters to view immigration positively.

While the tussle among the coalition partners comes ahead of the November election, the issue concerns the Indian government and the important FTA that it has signed with New Zealand. Transparency, therefore, is vital.

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