Drupal installation profile: menu_link_save() doesn't work for "import" path
As tvl advised, "import" path is not yet defined in when MYPROFILE_install() is called in MYPROFILE.install. So moved the code over to MYPROFILE.profile and used hook_install_tasks() as explained here: https://www.drupal.org/node/1022020

/**
 * Implements hook_install_tasks().
 */
function MYPROFILE_install_tasks($install_state) {
  $tasks['add_import_link'] = array(
    'display_name' =&gt; st('Adds import link to menu-administrator'),
    'display' =&gt; TRUE,
    'type' =&gt; 'normal',
    'run' =&gt; INSTALL_TASK_RUN_IF_NOT_COMPLETED,
    'function' =&gt; 'callback_add_import_link',
  );

  return $tasks;
}

function callback_add_import_link() {
  // Add the menu link
  $link = array('menu_name' =&gt; 'menu-administrator', 'link_path' =&gt; 'import', 'link_title' =&gt; 'Import', 'weight' =&gt; 5);
  menu_link_save($link);
  menu_rebuild();
}