Strengthening ties through sport: India Delegation 2026
Strengthening ties through sport: India Delegation 2026
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s certainly the case with a black-and-white photograph from 1926 of the Indian Army hockey team and the New Zealand test side, taken during their first-ever series of matches.
As New Zealand marks 100 years of sporting connections with one of its most important international partners, the photograph is a reminder of where the relationship began. The unity and shared history captured in the image were at the heart of a visit to India by a delegation of Kiwi sporting leaders in March 2026, nearly a century on from that historic tour.
Led by former Associate Minister of Sport and Recreation Hon Chris Bishop and Sport NZ, the delegation brought together leaders from across New Zealand sport, government and business to strengthen relationships with India, explore future opportunities and celebrate 100 years of sporting ties. It was delivered with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
The visit was one of the first major activities delivered under the New Zealand Government’s Sport Diplomacy Strategy 2025-2030, launched last year. It reflects a deliberate shift toward using sport as a pathway to build long-term international relationships – with India identified as a priority focus.
From 1926 to 2026: a century of connection
For the New Zealand Government’s Head of Sport Diplomacy Peter Miskimmin, the centenary carried personal meaning.
A veteran of over 20 hockey test matches against India, Miskimmin’s connection with India goes back well beyond his playing days – right back to the 1926 Indian Army tour.
In the photograph, 1 person stands out (second from the left, dressed in white): Havilah Down, the Honourable Secretary of the New Zealand Hockey Association, who organised and refereed the tour. Down is Miskimmin’s grandfather. Standing just behind him is India’s Dhyan Chand, widely regarded as one of the greatest hockey players of all time.
A century on, those 2 families remain connected through sport.
Miskimmin shared that connection with Ashok Kumar, Dhyan Chand’s son and a former India international hockey player. On 9 March 2026, the New Zealand High Commission hosted a function celebrating 100 years of unity through sport, and he presented the framed photograph and a gift from his granddaughter Olive to Kumar’s twin granddaughters.
“That’s 5 generations on my family’s side going back to my grandfather and 4 generations on Dhyan Chand’s that continue to be connected through sport over a century,” says Miskimmin.
“It’s a great illustration of the close bond between New Zealand and India that stretches back generations and the power of sport to forge connections and bring people from different nations together.”
Building connections that last
Alongside government engagement, the delegation included leaders from Basketball NZ, Golf NZ, Hockey NZ, Athletics NZ, Bowls NZ, Paralympics NZ, NZ Cricket and Wellington Phoenix. The group focused on understanding India’s fast-evolving sport system, building relationships with their Indian counterparts, and exploring where future collaboration could add value for both countries.
Basketball NZ Chief Executive Belinda Edwards says the visit reinforced how important patience and trust are when working in India, noting that “you have to build trust first – and that takes time.”
Meetings with India’s national basketball federation and organisations developing a new national league gave Edwards insight into how the sport is growing, and where future opportunities may lie.
With India’s national league set to recruit international players and run between January and March from 2027, there may be opportunities for players from New Zealand’s National Basketball League to begin their year with a stint in India, before returning for the NBL in April.
Over time, Edwards says there may also be opportunities for India players to feature in New Zealand’s National Basketball League.
Sport as a doorway to wider engagement
Former international cricketer Geoff Allott joined the delegation, bringing insight into how to engage with a country as large and diverse as India. Through his work with QualityNZ, Allott has spent more than a decade using sport as a pathway to wider business opportunities in India.
Allott says New Zealand’s reputation for ‘punching above its weight’ in sport gives it credibility in India, and that a sport diplomacy approach can deliver benefits well beyond the sporting sector.
“We were able to have some tremendous, open conversations about how we make a difference for our sports but also for our country.
“We need to ask: ‘how can we help India’? That’s an important part of it. What comes next is making sure we have a plan for the next 5 to 10 years that shows we are 100% committed to making a difference for India, and over time we will also prosper. Whether that is through capital or [sporting] leagues or whatever, that is where we want to get to – a mutually beneficial relationship.”
Finding common ground
Alongside formal meetings, the delegation programme also included community and school engagement.
At Delhi Public School, delegates visited the bowls facility used as a training facility for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. Sport NZ Group Chief Executive Raelene Castle spoke with students and teachers about leadership, opportunity and the role sport can play in opening doors.
Castle also spent time on the green with Pinki Singh, a teacher at the school and a member of the Indian bowls team that won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2022.
“It was about finding common ground,” says Castle, “and using sport as a way to connect and start wider conversations”.
For Castle, moments like this reinforced the broader purpose of the visit.
“What has stayed with me most is the openness on all sides – a willingness to listen, to share experiences generously and to focus on relationships first.
“We are only at the start line of this relationship with India and there are many more exciting opportunities to be developed and capitalised on.”
Turning strategy into action
The visit to India has led to strengthened government-to-government relationships, deeper connections between sporting organisations, and a clearer shared understanding of how New Zealand and India can work together over time.
The delegation is one of several activities planned across 2026 as part of the wider 100 Years of Unity through Sport programme, and one of the ways New Zealand is putting its Sport Diplomacy Strategy into action.
From a century-old photograph to conversations on a bowls green in Delhi, the story of New Zealand and India’s sporting relationship continues to be written – built on trust, respect and the shared experiences that only sport can create.
