"FTA not agreement of immigration, visas are sovereign decisions": MEA on India-New Zealand agreement
Auckland: Ministry of External Affairs on Saturday said that immigration was the most misunderstood part of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA). The Ministry differentiated between immigration and 'mobility of skilled manpower', with commitments for the latter already put in the FTA.
Addressing a special media briefing during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official visit to New Zealand, Secretary (East) in the MEA, Rudrendra Tandon said that visas are a sovereign decision of a country.
"So on the issue of immigration, there is a lot of misunderstanding. The FTA is not an agreement for immigration. Immigration and mobility of skilled manpower are two different issues altogether. The commitments that were crafted in the FTA pertain to mobility of skilled manpower under the existing laws that New Zealand has," he said.
Also Read: 15 Indian tourists killed as speedboat capsizes near Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island
"On visas, the visa... this is actually a question you need to address to the New Zealand side. That's a sovereign decision. In the sense that as long as our businesses can work, our students get to study, they get the exchanges as planned by the two sides are taking place. Visa decision and conferring visas is a sovereign decision that we can't really comment upon at this juncture. We have to go by that sovereign decision," he added.
Addressing a special media briefing during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's official visit to New Zealand, Secretary (East) in the MEA, Rudrendra Tandon said that visas are a sovereign decision of a country.
"So on the issue of immigration, there is a lot of misunderstanding. The FTA is not an agreement for immigration. Immigration and mobility of skilled manpower are two different issues altogether. The commitments that were crafted in the FTA pertain to mobility of skilled manpower under the existing laws that New Zealand has," he said.
Also Read: 15 Indian tourists killed as speedboat capsizes near Vietnam's Phu Quoc Island
"On visas, the visa... this is actually a question you need to address to the New Zealand side. That's a sovereign decision. In the sense that as long as our businesses can work, our students get to study, they get the exchanges as planned by the two sides are taking place. Visa decision and conferring visas is a sovereign decision that we can't really comment upon at this juncture. We have to go by that sovereign decision," he added.
Next Story