# Foreign relations of the Cook Islands

"none" is preferred when the title is sufficiently descriptive; see [[WP:SDNONE]] The Cook Islands maintains diplomatic relations with various countries and is a member of multilateral organisations. While the country is in free association with New Zealand, which can act on the Cook Islands' "delegated authority [...] to assist the Cooks Islands" in foreign affairs, the Cook Islands nevertheless enters into treaty obligations and otherwise "interacts with the international community as a sovereign and independent state."

## History

In the 1980s the Cook Islands became a member of several United Nations specialized agencies: the World Health Organization in 1984, the Food and Agriculture Organization and UNESCO in 1985, and the International Civil Aviation Organization in 1986. The Repertory of Practice of United Nations Organs records that in 1988 New Zealand declared "that its future participation in international agreements would no longer extend to the Cook Islands..." In 1991 the Cook Islands became a full member of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) Preparatory Committee and the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a Framework Convention on Climate Change (INC), which the Repertory of Practice describes as "further evidence that the international community had accepted the Cook Islands as a “State” under international law." The United Nations Secretariat therefore "recognized the full treaty-making capacity of the Cook Islands" in 1992 and the Secretary-General, in his capacity as the depository of multilateral treaties, decided that the Cook Islands could participate in treaties that were open to "all states".

## Diplomatic relations

List of countries with which the Cook Islands maintains diplomatic relations:
Date :
| 1 | Norway | 18 July 1991 |
| 2 | Malaysia | 2 May 1992 |
| 3 | New Zealand | 1993 |
| 4 | Australia | 1994 |
| 5 | Nauru | 1994 |
| 6 | Portugal | 12 August 1995 |
| 7 | Papua New Guinea | 1995 |
| 8 | South Africa | 9 February 1996 |
| 9 | Iran | 1996 |
| 10 | China | 25 July 1997 |
| 11 | Spain | 29 January 1998 |
| 12 | India | May 1998 |
| 13 | Fiji | 14 July 1998 |
| — | Holy See | 29 April 1999 |
| 14 | France | 19 October 1999 |
| 15 | Germany | 11 September 2001 |
| 16 | Cuba | 2 September 2002 |
| 17 | Timor-Leste | 2002 |
| 18 | Jamaica | 14 May 2003 |
| 19 | Italy | 9 October 2003 |
| 20 | Belgium | 6 April 2005 |
| 21 | Thailand | 24 May 2005 |
| 22 | Israel | April 2008 |
| 23 | Czech Republic | 12 May 2008 |
| 24 | Turkey | 20 October 2008 |
| 25 | Switzerland | 7 March 2011 |
| 26 | Japan | 16 June 2011 |
| 27 | Netherlands | 16 August 2011 |
| 28 | Philippines | 12 December 2011 |
| 29 | Singapore | 6 August 2012 |
| 30 | South Korea | 12 February 2013 |
| 31 | Samoa | 30 August 2013 |
| 32 | Tuvalu | August 2013 |
| 33 | Solomon Islands | 1 September 2013 |
| 34 | Kiribati | 3 September 2013 |
| 35 | Marshall Islands | 3 September 2013 |
| 36 | Palau | 3 September 2013 |
| — | Niue | 2013 |
| 37 | Vanuatu | 2013 |
| 38 | Federated States of Micronesia | 24 September 2014 |
| 39 | Tonga | 18 November 2014 |
| — | Kosovo | 28 May 2015 |
| 40 | Brazil | 21 August 2015 |
| 41 | Chile | 3 August 2016 |
| 42 | Peru | September 2017 |
| 43 | Malta | 6 October 2017 |
| 44 | Iceland | 13 October 2017 |
| 45 | Antigua and Barbuda | 9 November 2017 |
| 46 | United Arab Emirates | 5 August 2018 |
| 47 | Estonia | 25 August 2018 |
| 48 | Hungary | 20 September 2018 |
| 49 | Greece | 20 October 2018 |
| 50 | Indonesia | 12 July 2019 |
| 51 | Kuwait | 8 December 2021 |
| 52 | Vietnam | 26 April 2022 |
| 53 | Ireland | 21 November 2022 |
| 54 | Saudi Arabia | 11 April 2023 |
| 55 | Canada | 20 May 2023 |
| 56 | United States | 25 September 2023 |
| 57 | Ghana | 8 November 2023 |
| 58 | Mexico | 21 November 2023 |
| 59 | Panama | 8 March 2024 |
| 60 | Bangladesh | 11 April 2024 |
| 61 | Ecuador | 21 May 2024 |
| 62 | Seychelles | 31 May 2024 |

## Bilateral relations

| Country | Formal Relations Began | Notes |
| China | 1997 | Main article: China–Cook Islands relations The Chinese Embassy to New Zealand in Wellington is also accredited to the Cook Islands. |
| India | 1998 | Main article: Cook Islands–India relations The Indian High Commission in Suva, Fiji is accredited to the Cook Islands. |
| New Zealand | 1993 | Main article: Cook Islands–New Zealand relations The Cook Islands maintains a High Commission in Wellington and a Consul-General in Auckland. New Zealand maintains a High Commission in Rarotonga. |
| United States | 2023 | Main article: Cook Islands–United States relations The Cook Islands signed the Cook Islands–United States Maritime Boundary Treaty in 1980. The US established diplomatic relations with the Cook Islands in 25 September 2023. |

## Consular relations

The following countries have established consular relations with the Cook Islands only.
* Monaco 2007 or before

## International organisation participation

* ACP, AOSIS, AsDB, ESCAP (associate), FAO, ICAO, IMO, ICC, ICFTU, IFAD, ILO IOC, OPCW, Pacific Islands Forum, Red Cross/Red Crescent, South Pacific Applied Geoscience Commission, Sparteca, SPC, UNESCO, WHO, WMO
* Commonwealth of Nations – the Cook Islands are part of the Commonwealth, but is not a member state, being a dependency of New Zealand, whose Commonwealth membership covers the Cook Islands, Niue, and Tokelau, as well as New Zealand itself.
* In November 2011, the Cook Islands were one of the eight founding members of Polynesian Leaders Group, a regional grouping intended to cooperate on a variety of issues including culture and language, education, responses to climate change, and trade and investment.
* The Cook Islands participate in the International Maritime Organization, the United Nations regulatory body for the shipping trade.

## Participation in international treaties and conventions

* Party to the following treaties and conventions: Biodiversity Convention, Cotonou Agreement, Geneva Conventions, POPs Project, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, UNCLOS, UNFCCC and its Kyoto protocol, Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation, Biological Weapons Convention, Convention of the International Mobile Satellite Organization