New Delhi, 17 Mar

India has a significant role to play in the Indo-Pacific as its size and geo-strategic heft is crucial in an increasingly multi-polar world, New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said on Monday while backing New Delhi's bid to become a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

In an address at the Raisina Dialogue, Luxon underlined the need to ensure a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific and asserted that the "might makes right" approach was unacceptable, remarks that came amid China's increasing muscle-flexing in the region.

The Kiwi leader said countries like India play such a central role globally and New Zealand supports New Delhi getting a permanent seat in a reformed UN Security Council.

Luxon made the remarks after inaugurating the Raisina Dialogue along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In his remarks, the New Zealand prime minister mostly delved into economic and political aspects of the Indo-Pacific analysing increasing power-play in the region.

"We must go forward with great confidence as we live at the heart of the world's most exciting and dynamic region -- the Indo-Pacific," he said in the presence of several foreign ministers, top diplomats and foreign policy experts.

"There is no prosperity without security," he added.

Luxon also elaborated on New Zealand's approach towards the Indo-Pacific and said his country is looking to "protect and advance" its interests in the fast evolving dynamic region.

"As New Zeraland looks to protect and advance our interests in the Indo-Pacific , we can only do so alongside partners like India that have a significant role to play in the Indo-Pacific region," he said.

"In an increasingly multi-polar world India's size and geo-strategic heft gives you autonomy," he argued.

"We want to live in an Indo-Pacific where the countries are free to choose their own path free from interference, a region where no one country comes to dominate."

Luxon said New Zealand is working alongside other Pacific countries to boost their capacities and help them make "independent choices free from interference".

"My government is investing in key relationships -- from traditional partners to deepening our relationships across South-East Asia and in a serious way with India too," he added.

Luxon also described the Quad as an "important vehicle" to promote an open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.

"And India's contribution to the evolution of Quad has been vital," he said.

Luxon suggested that while New Zealand has no intention to become part of the Quad, it stands ready to work to advance the grouping's initiatives.

The Kiwi prime minister said his country will be boosting defence cooperation with like-minded nations like India.

He also complimented the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) for continuing to promote regional peace and economic development through its centrality in the Indo-Pacific.

Luxon, referring to the proposed free trade pact between India and New Zealand, said it will boost economic engagement between the two nations.

In their talks earlier in the day, Modi and Luxon deliberated on the situation in the Indo-Pacific.

Both the prime ministers reaffirmed their commitment to supporting an open, inclusive, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific where sovereignty and territorial integrity are respected, a joint statement said.

They noted that, as maritime nations, India and New Zealand have a strong and common interest in an open, inclusive, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific, where the rules-based international order is upheld, it said.

Modi and Luxon also reaffirmed the right of freedom of navigation and overflight and other lawful uses of the seas in accordance with international law, particularly the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), it added.

"The prime ministers reaffirmed the need to pursue peaceful resolution of disputes in accordance with international law, particularly UNCLOS," the statement noted.