{"id":129139,"date":"2026-07-10T18:53:28","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T13:53:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=129139"},"modified":"2026-07-10T18:53:30","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T13:53:30","slug":"modi-visits-new-zealand-as-trade-deal-sparks-india-pushback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/","title":{"rendered":"Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Web Desk(National Times)- India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in New Zealand on Friday touting a free trade deal that has sparked a backlash despite promises it will unlock jobs and economic riches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On the agenda are trade, tourism and sport \u2014 but recent undercurrents of anti-migrant sentiment risk tarnishing his trip to a nation long proud of its tolerance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon celebrated the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1995502\">signing&nbsp;<\/a>in April of the free trade deal with the world\u2019s most populous nation, touting an export boom that would deliver jobs and investment in spades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The pact is widely expected to be approved by New Zealand\u2019s parliament. But not everyone is happy at the prospect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Lawmakers in the populist New Zealand First Party, part of Luxon\u2019s governing coalition, railed against parts of the agreement covering migration and visas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI don\u2019t care how much criticism we get, I am just never going to agree with a butter chicken tsunami coming to New Zealand,\u201d government minister Shane Jones&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1994082\">told&nbsp;<\/a>a local radio show.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">An Indian community leader accused Jones of \u201coutright racism\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">A prominent evangelical preacher went even further when he heard Indian leader Modi would soon be arriving on New Zealand\u2019s shores.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Self-proclaimed \u201capostle\u201d Brian Tamaki accused Modi of vilifying Christians in India \u2014 and suggested New Zealanders should retaliate in kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cLet\u2019s purge New Zealand of Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims,\u201d Tamaki said on Instagram.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cWhile we\u2019re at it, if they\u2019re burning churches down, why don\u2019t we burn mosques and their temples down? Tit for tat,\u201d he said, in comments condemned by New Zealand\u2019s race relations commissioner as \u201cutterly appalling\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/2014354\/modi-visits-new-zealand-as-trade-deal-sparks-india-pushback#denigrated\"><\/a>\u2018Denigrated\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Indigenous Maori activist Che Wilson was earlier this year&nbsp;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rnz.co.nz\/news\/politics\/593912\/che-wilson-apologises-to-sikh-community-after-controversial-haka\">accused&nbsp;<\/a>of insulting an Indian-born New Zealand lawmaker with a cultural \u201chaka\u201d performance that allegedly included several mocking references tinged by race.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Massey University anthropologist Sita Venkateswar said Modi was visiting as Indian-New Zealanders were being singled out and \u201cdenigrated\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cA \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1994082\">butter chicken tsunami\u2019<\/a>, slurs set to a haka, graffiti on a school wall \u2013 South Asians are already the most frequent targets of racially motivated incidents in our data,\u201d she told&nbsp;<em>AFP<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThat is real and it is wrong.\u201d Modi will be in New Zealand for little more than a day, at the tail end of a July 6-11 tour that has also taken him to Indonesia and Australia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">He will be attending an official ceremony at the Government House and a business and sport event in Auckland \u2014 the first visit to the country by an Indian leader in 40 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The big event is expected to be Modi\u2019s starring role before as many as 10,000 people from the Indian diaspora at a community event in Auckland\u2019s Spark Arena.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite the negative rhetoric about their ties from some quarters, New Zealand\u2019s Luxon has been promoting a welcoming image for Modi\u2019s visit to a country that is home to an Indian diaspora of about 300,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis visit is about celebrating a winning partnership between New Zealand and India \u2014 one that delivers for our people and supports greater prosperity and security for both our countries,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Web Desk(National Times)- India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in New Zealand on Friday touting a free trade deal that has sparked a backlash despite promises it will unlock jobs and economic riches. On the agenda are trade, tourism and sport \u2014 but recent undercurrents of anti-migrant sentiment risk tarnishing his trip to a nation [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-129139","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-latest_news","entry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback - Nation<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback - Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Web Desk(National Times)- India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in New Zealand on Friday touting a free trade deal that has sparked a backlash despite promises it will unlock jobs and economic riches. On the agenda are trade, tourism and sport \u2014 but recent undercurrents of anti-migrant sentiment risk tarnishing his trip to a nation [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Nation\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T13:53:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-10T13:53:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2-11.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"370\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"humza Jahangir\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/\",\"name\":\"Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback - Nation\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2-11.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-10T13:53:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-10T13:53:30+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2-11.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2-11.png\",\"width\":670,\"height\":370},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/\",\"name\":\"Nation\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16\",\"name\":\"humza Jahangir\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"humza Jahangir\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback - Nation","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback - Nation","og_description":"Web Desk(National Times)- India\u2019s Prime Minister Narendra Modi lands in New Zealand on Friday touting a free trade deal that has sparked a backlash despite promises it will unlock jobs and economic riches. On the agenda are trade, tourism and sport \u2014 but recent undercurrents of anti-migrant sentiment risk tarnishing his trip to a nation [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/","og_site_name":"Nation","article_published_time":"2026-07-10T13:53:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-10T13:53:30+00:00","og_image":[{"width":670,"height":370,"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2-11.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"humza Jahangir","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"humza Jahangir","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/","name":"Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback - Nation","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2-11.png","datePublished":"2026-07-10T13:53:28+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-10T13:53:30+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2-11.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2-11.png","width":670,"height":370},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/129139\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Modi visits New Zealand as trade deal sparks India pushback"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/","name":"Nation","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/27efa35fa76e99f3ad7e7397d7332c16","name":"humza Jahangir","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/43feedd99bd6a90080d1621b7e6604364acb673ee979d3ffe5075557c14c68b9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"humza Jahangir"},"url":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/author\/humza\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129139","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129139"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129139\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":129141,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129139\/revisions\/129141"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129139"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129139"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129139"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}