India asks New Zealand to explore agri-imports

Government today asked New Zealand to consider importing farm communities, including garlic, grapes, wheat and sugar, from India.
In a meeting with New Zealand Minister of Primary Industries Nathan Guy, Indian Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh also emphasised the need to set up a formal institutional framework of cooperation in priority areas to strengthen bilateral trade.
"There is a great possibility of New Zealand importing a large number of agri-commodities such as garlic, grapes, wheat, groundnut and sugar so that bilateral trade between the two countries may be pushed up further," Singh said.
On free trade agreement, the Minister said that the two countries have already held nine rounds of talks. "Both the countries need to work progressively to resolve phytosanitary issues," the statement said.

While emphasising the need to enhance bilateral cooperation in agriculture and allied sectors, Singh sought help from New Zealand in setting up a firm -- Indian Immunological Ltd -- that will work in the field of controlling disease in animals through vaccination.
Meanwhile, the India-New Zealand Business Council (INZBC) and industry body CII today signed an agreement aiming to bolster bilateral trade ties.
"We believe that this MoU will inject new life into our existing bilateral economic relationship and place it on a higher growth trajectory," said CII President-Designate Sumit Mazumder.
"The signing of this Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) is a step forward for strengthening trade, economic and commercial ties between the two countries' business communities," INZBC Chairman Sunil Kaushal said.