This article covers people-to-people and cultural ties between India and New Zealand, sporting links, education and Indian students, and the Indian community in New Zealand. It is based on the MEA brief of July 2026, which draws the community figures from New Zealand's Census 2023.

Cultural ties

The brief describes the presence of a large Indian diaspora in New Zealand and people-to-people linkages as the foundation for cultural cooperation between the two countries. According to the brief, Indian festivals including Diwali, Holi, Rakshabandhan, Baisakhi, Guruparvs, Onam, Pongal and Annakut are celebrated all over New Zealand.

Several schools across New Zealand teach Indian traditional art forms such as Kathak and Bharatnatyam, as well as contemporary Bollywood dance styles. Several schools also teach and promote Hindi and other Indian languages.

The brief describes sporting links between India and New Zealand as close, particularly in cricket, hockey and mountaineering. The first sporting link is considered to be the visit of the Indian Army Hockey team to New Zealand in 1926. The team included Major Dhyanchand and won 18 matches out of 21 played.

In mountaineering, the brief notes that Sir Edmund Hillary, who is considered a New Zealand hero, is also an iconic name in India. He served as New Zealand High Commissioner to India from 1985 to 1988.

New Zealand's Associate Minister of Sport and Recreation, Mr. Chris Bishop, led a sports delegation to India from 6-8 March 2026 to commemorate 100 years of sporting ties between New Zealand and India. The visit was part of New Zealand's Sport Diplomacy Strategy 2025-2030. The delegation explored collaboration in sports development, knowledge sharing and commercial partnerships, and discussed trade and economic engagement.

Indian students in New Zealand

According to the MEA brief of July 2026, India is the 2nd largest source of international students in New Zealand after China. The number peaked at approximately 30,000 students in 2015 and has since declined. The brief gives several reasons, including tighter visa norms, stringent control over the quality of educational institutions, lack of job opportunities, higher cost of living and limited English skills.

As of July 2026, there are approximately 12,800 Indian students in New Zealand, pursuing higher education in disciplines such as information technology, hospitality, science, engineering and architecture.

Education partnerships

On 11 February 2020, the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi signed an MoU with New Zealand universities to establish a NZ Centre at the Institute. The Centre was inaugurated by Winston Peters, then Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of New Zealand, during his visit to New Delhi on 26 February, 2020.

IIT Delhi and the New Zealand universities are each contributing NZ $50,000 to fund 10 research projects on cancer, waste management, cyber security, robotics, autonomous vehicles and medical technology. The research is being done by academics from IIT Delhi in collaboration with one New Zealand university.

In February 2024, Education New Zealand (ENZ) signed two Education Cooperation Arrangements, with Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City) and the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Ahmedabad. The agreements were announced during the New Zealand-India Education Connect event, and the brief describes them as reinforcing New Zealand's commitment to India as a key education partner.

The Indian community

According to Census 2023, as cited in the brief, there are 292,092 persons of Indian ethnicity in New Zealand. Around 70,000 persons are estimated to be Indian passport holders, and 35,000 persons are estimated to be of Fijian-Indian descent.

The brief states that Hindi (77,985) is the fifth most spoken language in New Zealand, after English, Maori (213,849), Samoan (110,541) and Mandarin (107,412).

Members of the community are mainly engaged in professional activities, including as doctors, professors, engineers, chartered accountants and computer experts. Many are also engaged in the grocery and food distribution business, dairy farming and as cab drivers. There are Indian Associations in all major towns, which help the community nurture its cultural heritage.

During his visit to Auckland in July 2026, Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed a large gathering of the Indian diaspora in New Zealand at the "Kia Ora Modi" event.