PUTRAJAYA, March 27 — Malaysia has requested for an additional 500,000 tonnes of white rice from India, said Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.
The official application to India will be made through diplomatic channels soon.
“In the meeting just now, I took the opportunity to record our deepest appreciation for the special export allocation of 170,000 tonnes of white rice to Malaysia by the government of India,” he said in a statement today.
Mohamad was speaking after India’s Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar paid a courtesy call to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
On October 18 last year, it was reported that the Indian government had approved the export of 170,000 tonnes of non-Basmati white rice to Malaysia as a symbol of the special friendship between the two countries.
The minister, who also attended the discussion session between Jaishankar and Anwar, said Malaysia has also submitted an official request to India earlier this year to obtain a special export allocation of 100,000 tonnes of onions through a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement.
He said Malaysia appreciated the cordial bilateral relations with India in the fields of agriculture and food security.
"There are enormous opportunities for Malaysia and India to expand the scope of bilateral cooperation in agriculture and food security," Mohamad said.
Expressing hope that the good bilateral relations between Malaysia and India will continue to strengthen, especially in agriculture, he wants the relations between the two countries to reach a higher level and expand in the future.
Mohamad added the trade in the agricultural sector between Malaysia and India from January to November last year was worth RM19.42 billion.
Jaishankar is on a two-day working visit to Malaysia starting today.
— Bernama
