By Amandeep Kaur
Auckland, Feb 10 (IANS) A team from India will visit New Zealand in April to hold talks for a free trade agreement (FTA), said Indian High Commissioner Admiral (retd) Sureesh Mehta Wednesday.

Mehta said the FTA with India would be hugely beneficial to both countries.

“New Zealand’s exports to India are across a narrow range of goods. There is a lot of scope to diversify that range and it will be important to do so,” he said on the eve of the launch of the India-New Zealand Business Council’s Auckland chapter.

He stressed that there was a lot of potential to increase cross border investment as well as services exports and it is essential that negotiations cover these areas.

India-New Zealand Business Council chairperson Wenceslaus Anthony said the council was looking forward to continuing the momentum which has been developing in recent months towards India.

Anthony said “we help raise awareness of the business community throughout New Zealand to the importance of India to our future economic prosperity”.

“I hope that the setting up of regional chapters will be the first of a number of innovative steps that the council can take in coming years to raise its profile, and to increase acceptance by the New Zealand business community of the importance that India should hold in their forward planning,” said Anthony.