Introduction
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand from 6-11 July 2026 was aimed at strengthening India’s economic, defence and diplomatic ties across the Indo-Pacific landscape. The order of the visit matters: Indonesia links India to Southeast Asia; Australia is an important stakeholder in the Indian Ocean and Quad countries, and New Zealand is an entry point to the South Pacific. In Indonesia, the talks focused on defence cooperation, critical minerals, maritime security and other sectoral cooperation, while the Australia visit was dedicated to the India–Australia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, with particular attention given to defence, security, critical technologies, clean energy and economic cooperation. The final phase in New Zealand focused on expanding bilateral economic engagement, including the elevation of relations to a Strategic Partnership and cooperation in areas such as trade, maritime security and technology. New Delhi portrayed this trip as a part of its “Act East” policy and the Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions (MAHASAGAR) initiative.[1]
