India and New Zealand on Tuesday agreed to strengthen defence cooperation with the visiting New Zealand Prime Minister John Key saying that they would appoint a Defence Adviser to India to facilitate linkages.
After talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the joint statement said that both sides noted the need for “ensuring the safety and security of sea lanes and agreed that regional and global cooperation should continue to ensure maritime security”.
India’s former Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta is the current Indian ambassador to New Zealand, and government sources said he had been working towards enhancing the defence cooperation with that country.
Singh said: “New Zealand, like us, has a stake in ensuring the safety of sea lanes of communications and combating piracy. We have agreed to explore possibilities for greater cooperation in these areas.”
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