Image caption Mr Panetta is the first Pentagon chief to visit New Zealand in almost three decades 
 
 The US has lifted a decades old ban which prevented New Zealand naval ships from docking at its ports, US Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said. 
 
 The ban was put in place after New Zealand prohibited port visits by ships with nuclear weapons in 1986, which meant that US ships could not dock in New Zealand. 
 
 Mr Panetta is the first Pentagon chief to visit New Zealand since 1986. 
 
 Both countries have been discussing ways to build stronger defence ties. 
 
 Washington suspended its defence treaty with New Zealand in 1986. But the relationship between both has started to improve since New Zealand sent troops to Afghanistan. 
 
 The two signed a defence agreement earlier this year. 
 
 Mr Panetta told reporters: "While we acknowledge that our countries continue to have differences of opinion in some limited areas, today we have affirmed that we are embarking on a new course in our relationship that will not let those differences stand in the way of greater engagement on security issues." 
 
 The ''policy change'', Mr Panetta said, would make it easier for the military of both countries to ''engage in discussions on security issues and to hold co-operative engagements''. 
 
 He was speaking in Auckland at a joint news conference with New Zealand Defence Minister Jonathan Coleman. 
 
 Mr Coleman had said that while his country welcomed stronger ties with the US, its anti-nuclear position remains unchanged. 
 
 "We are in a new era and I don't think we should get hung up about trying to turn the clock back to pre-1986 because the reality is the relationship is very, very good," he said. 
 
 Mr Panetta also visited Tokyo and Beijing this week. The trip, one of several to the region this year, is seen as central to the US effort to rebalance its forces to the Asia-Pacific area as part of a new military strategy. ||||| U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta (L) smiles next to New Zealand's Minister of Defence Jonathan Coleman at the Government House in Auckland September 21, 2012. 
 
 AUCKLAND | 
 
 AUCKLAND (Reuters) - The United States has lifted a ban on visits by New Zealand warships to U.S. defense and coast guard bases around the world, further thawing relations after a 26-year stand-off on nuclear issues. 
 
 U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made the announcement during a visit to New Zealand on Friday. He said Washington would lift restrictions on military exercises and facilitate more talks with New Zealand even though Wellington maintains its long-held nuclear-free stance. 
 
 For the first time since the suspension of the ANZUS Treaty in 1986, Washington will allow individual visits by Royal New Zealand Navy ships to U.S. Department of Defense or Coast Guard facilities in the United States and around the world, Panetta said in Auckland, New Zealand's largest city. 
 
 "These changes make it easier for our militaries to engage in discussions on security issues and to hold cooperative engagements that increase our capacity to tackle common challenges," he said. 
 
 Panetta said Washington and Wellington would work together despite lingering "differences of opinion in some limited areas". 
 
 The visit by Panetta, the first by a Pentagon chief in 30 years, signals a new era of U.S.-New Zealand defense links breached in the mid-1980s, when Wellington declared itself nuclear-free and barred its ports to nuclear warships. 
 
 While both Washington and Wellington acknowledged the improvement in relations and defense ties, New Zealand Defense Minister Jonathan Coleman said New Zealand had an independent foreign policy and that its anti-nuclear ban was not negotiable. 
 
 "I don't think that we should get too hung up about trying to turn the clock back to pre-1986 because the reality is that the relationship is very, very good," Coleman said at a news conference following their meeting. 
 
 New Zealand has a small contingent of troops fighting with U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan. 
 
 During his visit Panetta is also meeting with other senior leaders to explore deeper U.S. military engagement with New Zealand as the United States rebalances its forces to the Asia-Pacific as part of a new military strategy. 
 
 In July, the United States and New Zealand agreed to hold regular high-level talks and to cooperate on maritime security, counter-terrorism, and peacekeeping operations. 
 
 U.S. Marines trained in New Zealand earlier this year, and New Zealand's navy took part in the multi-nation Rimpac maritime exercise ships in July. 
 
 (Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Paul Tait)
– Leon Panetta has patched up a Reagan-era rift between the US and New Zealand. The defense secretary announced that the US is lifting a ban on Kiwi warships in its ports that has been in place since 1986, reports the BBC. The ban was introduced after New Zealand declared itself a nuclear-free zone and banned nuclear-armed or powered warships from using its ports or entering its waters. New Zealand's defense minister welcomed the move but said the nuclear ban remains in place and is non-negotiable. "While we acknowledge that our countries continue to have differences of opinion in some limited areas, today we have affirmed that we are embarking on a new course in our relationship that will not let those differences stand in the way of greater engagement on security issues," said Panetta, the first top Pentagon official to visit the country in 30 years. He said the US military plans to lift restrictions on military exercises with New Zealand and thanked the country for its contribution in Afghanistan, reports Reuters. New Zealand has had a small contingent of troops in Afghanistan since 2003 and five of them were killed in attacks last month.