Labour leader Chris Hipkins Photo: Reece Baker
Labour leader Chris Hipkins is accusing the prime minister of reversing a long-held foreign policy during his current trip to India to help secure a free trade agreement between the two countries.
"It seems our foreign policy is up for grabs at the moment," he said, citing Christopher Luxon's seeming endorsement of India's bid to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group despite New Zealand's previous long-standing objection.
"I think these are bad moves for New Zealand. We should continue to be independent and principled in our foreign policy."
But the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister both say nothing has changed.
Hipkins was commenting to Morning Report on a section of the joint statement issued after Luxon met with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday.
It included a reference to India's hopes of joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
Christopher Luxon and Indian PM Narendra Modi at Sikh temple Gurdwara Rakab Ganj Sahib. Photo: Supplied
"Both leaders acknowledged the importance of upholding the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime and acknowledged the value of India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) in context of predictability for India's clean energy goals and its non-proliferation credentials," the statement said, as reported by StratNews Global.
The NSG was set up in 1974 as the US response to India's "peaceful nuclear test" that year. Comprising 48 countries, the aim was to ensure that nuclear trade for peaceful purposes does not contribute to the proliferation of atomic weapons, the report said.
India is not a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty which is one of the pre-requisites of joining the NSG.
In the past New Zealand has objected to India joining the NSG because of concern access to those nuclear materials could be used for nuclear weapons.
"So it's a principled stance New Zealand has taken. Christopher Luxon signed that away yesterday. He basically signed a memo that basically said that we supported India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group despite the fact that India has consistently refused to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty."
It was "a reversal" of previous policy, Hipkins said, and undermined New Zealand's nuclear-free stance.
But a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters denied there had been change.
"New Zealand's position on the Nuclear Suppliers Group has not changed, contrary to what Mr Hipkins claims. The joint statements released by the New Zealand and Indian Prime Ministers in 2016 and 2025 make that abundantly clear," he said.
"If Mr Hipkins or his predecessor Jacinda Ardern had travelled to India during their six years as Prime Minister, the Labour Party might understand this issue and the New Zealand-India relationship a bit better."
Peters was also Foreign Minister during the first three years of the Ardern government.
A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said the coalition hadn't endorsed India's bid to join the NSG.
Rather, New Zealand would work in good faith with other NSG members to develop the criteria for allowing new members to join, they said.
On a possible free trade deal with India, Hipkins said he did not want to see it achieved at the expense of "selling out large parts of New Zealand's economy and potentially New Zealand's principled foreign policy stance" which would not be good for this country.
"The endorsement of India joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group is a real departure."
Comment has been requested from the Prime Minister's office.
