Powhiri welcomes Pacific leaders to Auckland

Prime Minister John Key and Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard are among the leaders attending this week's Pacific Islands Forum. File photo / Greg Bowker

With two days of formal talks ahead of them at the Pacific Islands Forum in Auckland, 16 Pacific leaders tonight joined in song at a welcoming ceremony.

Prime Minister John Key hosted a powhiri at Auckland Museum, where Pacific leaders were given a traditional Maori greeting with haka and waiata.

The visitors responded to the New Zealand delegation with their own Maori song and received a round of applause for their efforts.

Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples welcomed the visitors, noting the special ties between Pacific countries and the long history that made the relationship special.