The Prime Minister is in Tauranga today and is adamant that New Zealand has not committed to contribute militarily to a war on terrorist jihadist group ISIS.

John Key was in town to open the Bethlehem Birthing Centre. However, he was quizzed about NZ's presence at a global summit of defence chiefs in the US where counter terrorist operations against ISIS were discussed.

The Prime Minister was speaking during a visit to Tauranga today.

Mr Key insists it was just a regular, frequent meeting which the administration always attends, and he denied that NZ's presence meant we were leaning towards a military contribution.

'We are not considering anything more than humanitarian aid at the moment,” says the Prime Minister.

The Edwards Air Force Base meeting was to plan co-ordinated strategies in the fight against Islamic state terrorists.

However the PM says he's going through a very thorough and thoughtful process, 'and we are a long way from committing NZ to anything else than humanitarian aid at this point".

NZ's Defence Chief, Lieutenant General Tim Keating, attended the briefing in America along with defence commanders from 21 other countries.

Mr Key says: 'We will be talking with the COD when he gets back. He'll have information which he thinks could be the next step.

'It would be odd if we did nothing. But it just may be that we contribute in a humanitarian way for a long time.

'Given the strength and resolve of ISIS to rain terror - these things are never resolved quickly.”

US President Barack Obama has indicated the fight against ISIS is going to be 'a very long campaign”.