AUCKLAND, New Zealand — Defense Secretary Leon Panetta arrived in New Zealand on Friday, the first Pentagon chief to visit in three decades, an absence prompted by a breakdown in ties after New Zealand prohibited U.S. nuclear warships from its territorial waters.
In a sign of Washington’s efforts to increase cooperation, Panetta announced that the Obama administration had modified U.S. policy so that in the future, the defense secretary can authorize individual visits by New Zealand naval vessels to Defense Department or Coast Guard facilities.
Although New Zealand now participates in U.S.-led naval exercises, its ships must dock at commercial ports in the U.S., not at military bases.
