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Winston Peters' India FTA criticisms are a "bit of a red herring", lawyer says

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 11 Feb 2026, 10:49am
Photo / Mark Mitchell
Photo / Mark Mitchell

Winston Peters' India FTA criticisms are a "bit of a red herring", lawyer says

Author
Newstalk ZB,
Publish Date
Wed, 11 Feb 2026, 10:49am

Foreign Minister Winston Peters' politicking around the India free trade agreement is nothing new.  

There's been weeks of back and forth within the coalition about the contents of the deal, which still hasn't been publicly released.  

Peters has spoken out about the deal prohibiting a specific cap on Indian student visas. 

Queen City Law managing director Marcus Beveridge told Ryan Bridge Peters made similar criticisms about 20 years ago, but was shut down by Helen Clark. 

He says Todd McClay and Christopher Luxon have been a bit more feeble and weak on this one, so Peters has more mileage.  

Beveridge says we don't cap any foreign students, so the whole thing is a bit of a red herring. 

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