India news: PM Modi embarks on maiden trip to New Zealand

Here are the latest developments from India on Friday, July 10.

New Zealand set to host Indian PM Modi

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday left for New Zealand from Australia where he concluded the third India-Australia Annual Summit.

Modi's New Zealand visit is the first by an Indian prime minister in 40 years, with Rajiv Gandhi being the last leader to visit the country in 1986.

While in Auckland, Modi will hold bilateral talks with his New Zealand counterpart Christopher Luxon on areas covering the full spectrum of ties between the two nations, including areas like trade and defense cooperation.

Modi's trip comes after India and New Zealand signed ‌a free trade agreement in April.

The pact eliminates duties on 100% of Indian exports while cutting or removing tariffs on 95% of New Zealand's exports to India.

A day before Modi was set to arrive in Auckland, New Zealand Prime Minister Luxon announced that 57% of his country's exports to India would be "tariff free from day one".

He also hailed the trade deal between the two nations.

"New Zealand businesses are set to boom with our India Trade Deal," Luxon wrote on X on Thursday.

This is Dharvi Vaid Dhulia from DW's studio in New Delhi, bringing you our Friday digest of all the news, events and trends that have got India talking.

Monsoon rains have covered the entirety of India, the national weather agency has announced. While the downpour brings respite from a blistering season of heatwaves, it has also disrupted daily lives by causing landslides, flooding, road and building cave-ins. Several rain-related deaths have been reported across the country.

In news from the delicate domain of diplomacy, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is jetting off to the final stop of his three-nation tour — New Zealand.

The trip would mark the first visit to the island country by an Indian Prime Minister in four decades.

The visit comes after Modi spent the week signing a raft of pacts on critical minerals, defense and agriculture in Indonesia, and striking a long-stalled deal in Australia that unlocks the supply of Australian uranium to India.

Modi's tour to Jakarta, Melbourne and now Auckland is seen as key in boosting New Delhi's Indo-Pacific strategy.

Stay tuned as we dive into all this and more.