Philippines President Ferdinand ”Bongbong” Marcos Jr. thanked India for its decision to export around 295,000 metric tons (MT) of non-basmati white rice to the Philippines.

Marcos said this during the courtesy call in Malacañang of Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s Minister of External Affairs. He also conveyed his intention to deepen collaboration with India in various areas such as agriculture, infrastructure and defense.

“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.

He added: “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 the Philippines is focusing on agriculture to ensure food security, noting the country’s initial exchanges with India.

The Philippine president also said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has come to a conclusion or a joint consensus on the need to strengthen the supply chains — both the physical and digital supply chains.

In October 2023, 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.