Luxon’s years with Unilever in India helped him forge a bond with Modi.
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Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and India PM Narendra Modi wave to media ahead of their bilateral meeting in March last year. Photo / Interest.co.nz
Strong personal chemistry between Narendra Modi and Christopher Luxon was key to relaunching trade talks.
Luxon says the two men share a bias for action: “We get on well; we’re both action-oriented people. We both want to get things done, are both outcomes-focused, deliverables-focused.”
Modi is a leader who inspires
both intense loyalty and deep unease. Admirers see a decisive reformer with a singular focus on development and a clear vision for India’s rise. Detractors argue he has concentrated power around himself, built a formidable personality-driven political movement, and presided over a period in which questions about the strength of India’s democratic institutions have become increasingly prominent.
Luxon describes himself as a classic extrovert. His background as a corporate executive strongly aligns with pragmatic, results-oriented leaders who value structure, strategy, and clear performance goals. Supporters view him as decisive. Detractors lament his corporate speak.
Prime Ministers Christopher Luxon and Narendra Modi appeared on dozens of billboards and signs in New Delhi, India. Photo / Adam Pearse. 20.3.25AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.
Luxon, who worked for many years at Unilever, including across India through its Hindustan Unilever subsidiary, says that helped him connect with Modi. “I know India well, because Unilever genuinely was one of the top companies in India in its own right,” he told the Herald. “I’ve read a lot about Indian history ... it’s a place I know well, or feel I know well.”
He studied Modi’s record as Chief Minister of Gujarat and has long been drawn to his nation-building agenda. “I’ve been a huge admirer of Modi because I love the vision that he’s embraced and taken on. It’s a big, big country, 1.4 billion people in a democracy. It’s a difficult country to run, and I think he’s done it exceptionally well. Hundreds of millions of people have benefited from that.”
Their rapport has been reinforced through informal moments, including a private car ride to a Sikh temple after an event in India, during which the two leaders discussed global affairs in the back seat of Modi’s car.
Luxon’s own patient, studious research of just what makes Modi tick was also crucial to getting a date for his 2025 mission to India and setting the political environment so both sides were in open agreement that a fast conclusion for free trade talks should be a joint goal.
He took some time to learn more about Modi before their first in-person meeting at the East Asia Summit in Laos in October 2024. What he did was listen to The Economist’s podcast series — The Modi Raj.
We both want to get things done.
It’s not the only study that Luxon did. But the eight-part series would have given him a stellar grounding on just where Modi is taking India, the man himself (he was denied a diplomatic passport to the US earlier in his political career), challenges he personally faces leading such a diverse nation and the major trends transforming the country: the unprecedented youth bulge, technology and innovation.
He recently related that when they met in Laos, he said to the Indian PM, “Narendra, what’s going on?” Modi told him India would be a US$12 trillion economy by 2028, and while 440 million Indians were now “middle class”, that would rise to 750m by 2030.
Luxon reinforced the relationship with a speech to the prestigious Raisina dialogue in New Delhi in 2025, showing a deep understanding of India’s economic potential and, importantly, obvious respect and affection for Modi.
Negotiations started in March 2025 and concluded just nine months later in December 2025. “We were able to send a very clear message to the trade ministers to get on with it.”
