India's dairy sector, a sensitive area due to its cooperative-based structure, will benefit from the free trade agreement (FTA) with New Zealand through new technology absorption aimed at raising farm income, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday.
Addressing a special media briefing during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official visit to New Zealand, Secretary (East) in the MEA, Rudrendra Tandon, explained that India's dairy industry relies on a cooperative model rather than large commercial operations. "So dairy, as you know, is a very sensitive sector in India. That's because of the unique structure of our agriculture sector. We don't have large commercial dairies. For us, we are a cooperative-based dairy. And this is a very important source of liquidity for a small and marginal farmer and sometimes for people who work in the agriculture sector but who don't own land," he said.
Agricultural Productivity Arrangement
Tandon noted that under the FTA, both countries have signed the Agricultural Productivity Arrangement, which explicitly includes cooperation on agrotech issues. "New Zealand is an agrotech giant. They have developed some very advanced technologies in the entire range of activities in the agriculture sector. And in fact, we are under the FTA, we are signing... we have this package of... which is the Agricultural Productivity Arrangement, under which we explicitly will be cooperating on these agrotech issues which will eventually benefit our dairy industry and the development," he added.
The MEA Secretary emphasized that it is the Government of India's plan to commercialize and raise farm income, making absorption of new technology a very important part of the country's agriculture policy.
Strengthening Bilateral Economic Partnership
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon recognized the important role of the FTA in strengthening the bilateral economic partnership, including through the removal of barriers to trade, increased cooperation, and New Zealand's promotion of investment into India. The Prime Ministers noted that New Zealand can support India's Viksit Bharat goal to become a developed country by 2047, including through cooperation in trade, agriculture, skills, innovation, clean energy, sport, and other areas, according to a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs.
