Malaysia's minister for plantation and commodities has urged India to relax export restrictions on agricultural products such as rice and sugar. India, the world's largest exporter of rice and onions and the second-largest exporter of sugar, imposed these restrictions in 2023 to stabilize domestic prices before the general elections in April-May.

Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, speaking at an industry conference in New Delhi, criticized India's sudden export curbs on agricultural goods, noting their negative impact on Malaysia. He emphasized that opening up India's exports would benefit Malaysia, which heavily relies on India for sugar, rice, and onions. Malaysia itself is the second-largest exporter of palm oil to India, following Indonesia.

Government sources in New Delhi indicated potential changes, including lowering the floor price for basmati rice exports and replacing the 20% export tax on parboiled rice with a fixed duty, amid record-high rice inventories in the country.