NEW DELHI, Aug 29: India and New Zealand have committed to work together to further strengthen the cooperation in the agriculture sector and collaboration between the two countries, according to an official release.
A meeting was held here between Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, and New Zealand Minister for trade & export growth and agriculture Damien O’Connor.
“Both the leaders reiterated their commitments to work together in strengthening the agricultural cooperation and collaboration between the two countries,” an official statement said today.
At the meeting, Tomar mentioned the importance of relations between India and New Zealand and its steady progress.
He highlighted the resumption of the Joint Trade Committee after a gap of 14 years and the initiation of discussions on market access issues for agricultural products under its framework.
Tomar also thanked the New Zealand Minister for granting market access to Indian pomegranate arils and lifting the suspension on the import of mangoes from the MSAMB VHT facility in India.
He informed the New Zealand Minister about India’s initiatives in celebrating the year 2023 as the International Year of Millet and sought their cooperation in promoting the health and other benefits of Millet.
“Both Ministers emphasised the potential of the partnership envisaged in the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) being finalised between the two countries for the overall development of horticulture,” the statement said.
The Ministers assured each other of their commitments towards maintaining the quality and safety of the agricultural commodities being traded between the two countries and resolved to continue working on phytosanitary measures and systems.
They also discussed the importance of developing a sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural system.
The New Zealand Minister invited India to join the Global Research Alliance which is an alliance of 67 countries for sharing research on mitigation of climate change impacts on agriculture. (PTI)
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