New Delhi. During the India-New Zealand Business Forum held in Auckland, the atmosphere became light and pleasant when India’s Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal shared a funny anecdote related to his first visit to New Zealand. He smilingly told that during that trip he had received many speeding fines and the most surprising thing was that all those challans were delivered directly to his home in India.
Piyush Goyal said, “That was probably the last time I drove a car myself.” The entire hall echoed with laughter at his statement and a pleasant atmosphere was created before the serious business discussion. At present, the talks regarding Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and New Zealand have reached their fourth and most important round.
When the challans started reaching India
When Goyal was asked if he had ever traveled to New Zealand before, he laughed and said, “This is my first visit to Auckland, but this is the second time I have come to New Zealand. For the first time, I came as a tourist with my family. Spent time on the beach with the children and probably that was the last time I drove a car myself.”
To this the person interviewing jokingly said, “So did we scare you away from driving?” Goyal replied, “A little bit, yes.” Then he laughingly added, “I had rented a car there and went out for a walk. The country is very beautiful, there were mountains, lakes and green fields all around. But when I returned to India, for several months I kept getting speed fine letters from the New Zealand government. Sometimes it was $200, sometimes $400, and one day I was shocked to see a fine of $800!” Goyal said laughingly, “Initially I thought there was some mistake, but later I came to know that the faster you drive there, the more the fine increases. I also jokingly said that it is not our fault, the roads are so beautiful that the car automatically goes faster.”
“If FTA is signed, fine will be waived”
Hearing this story, even a New Zealand leader sitting with Piyush Goyal could not stop laughing. He jokingly said, “If our free trade agreement is signed this time, I will ask our transport minister to waive off your fine.” To this, Piyush Goyal replied smilingly, “To be honest, at that time I felt very tempted not to pay the fine. But then I thought when will I have to come so far again? It was good that I paid it, otherwise I would not have got the entry if I reached here today.”
New Zealand tour after two decades
This is Goyal’s first official ministerial visit to New Zealand after nearly two decades. The purpose of this visit is to further strengthen trade relations between the two countries, increase mutual ties between communities and advance joint economic development. This light conversation in the forum not only made the atmosphere comfortable, but also filled new energy for cooperation between the two countries.
