"Coconut, spices and of course teh tarik," he said, adding that flavours such as roti canai and Malabar parotta felt just as at home in Kuala Lumpur as they did in Kochi. "You connect roti canai with Malabar parotta," he added, saying shared traditions and common words across languages have helped Malaysians and Indians understand one another with ease. The Indian leader also joked about Anwar's fondness for Indian songs, recalling how videos of the Malaysian prime minister singing in Hindi during an earlier visit to India went viral, while noting his appreciation for Tamil classics. Modi highlighted the depth of that presence, noting that Malaysia is home to the world's second-largest Indian-origin community, which he described as a "living bridge" linking both societies. The exhibition that Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and I saw a short while ago shows these connections beautifully.

Source: New Strait Times February 07, 2026 12:45 UTC