Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of New Zealand Winston Peters will visit Sri Lanka, Nepal, India and Australia later this week, the New Zealand government has announced.

Foreign Minister Peters is travelling first to Adelaide, Australia to undertake six-monthly Australia-New Zealand Foreign Ministers’ Consultations with his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong.

He will then travel to South Asia, with programmes in Sri Lanka, Nepal and India.

“We are committed to bringing greater focus and energy to New Zealand’s relationships with South Asia. New Zealand must work alongside partners to contribute to a stable, secure and prosperous Indo-Pacific,” Peters said.

In Colombo, the New Zealand Foreign Minister will undertake the first visit by a New Zealand Foreign Minister to Sri Lanka since 2013, meeting President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and Foreign Minister Vijitha Herath.

“New Zealand and Sri Lanka have invested considerably in boosting our bilateral relationship over the past five years, including by opening High Commissions in Colombo and Wellington. This visit will provide political momentum and leadership to that process”, Peters noted.

In Kathmandu, he will undertake the first ever visit to Nepal by a New Zealand Foreign Minister, meeting Nepal’s President Ramchandra Paudel, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Foreign Minister Rana Deuba.

Peters will then travel to New Delhi to meet Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

Foreign Minister Peters will depart New Zealand on May 23 and return on May 31, according to the government of New Zealand.