The Indian High Commission in New Zealand has moved to its own building premises to 72, Pipitea Street, Thorndon in Wellington on Sunday 5th June, amid lot of fanfare and prayers from multi faith religious leaders. It took nearly 6 years to complete the beautiful edifice which is now a symbol of pride for the Indian diaspora community in New Zealand. The land area measuring 1923 square meter was bought for 8.22 million in 2009 and after few hiccups during its construction, it finally saw light of the day on 5th June,2022.
The High Commission of India was first opened in New Zealand in year 1952 and a Trade Commission of India before that in year 1950. The new High Commission will be fully functional from the new premises from Wednesday 8th June,2022.
The new High Commission Building houses the Chancery along with 9 residential quarters and it also include an auditorium, business centre, meeting rooms, library, and a visitor’s hall for public services apart from a central Atrium. The construction of the HC building started in 2016 but was stopped in 2018 since the construction company went into receivership and no work could be done for whole one year. Things started moving when in 2019, the new High Commissioner, HE Muktesh Pardeshi awarded the contract to a new contractor within one week of his taking up his assignment as the new High Commissioner of India in New Zealand. The total construction cost of the magnificent new High Commission building has come to around NZ$90 million. The new High Commission of India building is located in the Parliamentary Precinct.
The new High Commission building is an architectural marvel and an environmentally friendly design that features precast concrete structure, stone cladding, and folded twisted aluminium fins, inspired by banyan tree roots. A centralised courtyard offers a tranquil, naturally lit space for diplomatic and community functions for up to 300 people. Bansi Pink Natural sandstone was brought from Rajasthan for stone cladding. A Jali screen in the Atrium stands out and fosters a unique Indian identity. The Chinar tree (Platanus Orientals), which is a large, deciduous tree, adorns the Atrium. Chinar is a living heritage of Kashmir.
All credits for this historic accomplishment go to the very enterprising, dynamic, and proactive leadership of HE Muktesh Pardeshi, High Commissioner of India to New Zealand and his energetic and very professional team at HCI. During past few years, the Indian High Commission has worked as a great team under the able leadership and guidance of H.E. Muktesh Pardeshi, who has already received several accolades during his illustrious career. Mr Muktesh Pardeshi’ s tenure as High Commissioner of India to New Zealand is going to end soon but his accomplishments will be remembered by the diaspora community for a long time to come. What can be better gift for the Indian diaspora community of New Zealand in the 75th year of India’s independence or the ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’. – Yugal Parashar
