President Marcos has thanked India for supplying the Philippines with non-basmati white rice "at a very crucial time."
During his meeting with Indian Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Marcos expressed his gratitude to India for its decision to export 295,000 metric tons of non-basmati white rice to the country.
“I’d like to thank you and please extend my gratitude to your Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) for the timely provision of imported rice that we bought from India. The very critical… a very crucial time since we are in the right now suffering the effects [of] drought,” Marcos said during the courtesy call in Malacañang of Jaishankar on Tuesday, March 26.
“I hope… we hope to do better and I hope to continue this trade with India, but not only in agri products but in other [areas]. The ambassador has been working very hard to promote all of these different exchanges and welcome once again," Marcos said.
In October last year, India approved shipping 295,000 metric tons of non-basmati white rice to the Philippines, the highest allocation it gave to a foreign country after lifting the restriction to specific nations.
India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry issued a notification dated Oct. 18 that the Philippines together with Nepal, Cameroon, Cote d’ Ivore, Malaysia, Seychelles, and the Republic of Guinea are eligible for the exports.
India, the world’s largest rice exporter, banned the export of non-basmati rice in July 2023 in a bid to allay rising prices in its domestic market.
The President also conveyed his intention to further collaborate with the country in agriculture, infrastructure, and defense.