New Delhi: Foreign Minister of New Zealand Nanaia Mahuta is on an official visit to India from Feb 7-10 at the invitation of External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar when the two leaders met and discussed a range of bilateral matters.

She is accompanied by a high-level official and business delegation. Foreign Minister Mahuta will visit Delhi and Mumbai during her first visit to India as Foreign Minister.

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar hosted the visiting Foreign Minister for bilateral talks on Tuesday.

"Both Ministers discussed the whole range of bilateral matters, including economic cooperation, educational exchanges, defence engagements and people-to-people contacts. They exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest and discussed India and New Zealand’s shared vision for a rules-based, peaceful, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific," read a statement issued by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Foreign Minister Mahuta handed over to the External Affairs Minister signed copies of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Framework Agreement paving the way for New Zealand’s membership of this initiative.

Foreign Minister Mahuta’s visit closely follows the visit to New Zealand by External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar in October 2022.

India and New Zealand share close bilateral relations based on commonalities of democratic traditions and shared values bolstered by strong people-to-people ties.

The two countries are engaging in cooperation across a wide range of areas, including economic, political, defence, education, and science & technology.