Modern tractors harvest millions of grains across the fields, then pour them into the camera lens. A farmer walks in a paddy field. And finally, a green and white Pakistani flag flies in slow motion. When it comes to basmati rice, Pakistan is not joking. This video welcomes the visitor to the website of the Pakistan rice exporters association (Reap) with the slogan “Basmati rice, the real pride of Pakistan”.
Consequently, it is easy to imagine how hard the blow was for Islamabad when in September 2020 the European Union published in its Official Journal the request from India, a neighbor and rival of Pakistan, to obtain a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI). for its basmati rice. If the request is accepted, the use of the name basmati for exports to the Union would be reserved only for Indian rice. The initiative has disrupted the Pakistani rice industry. In fact, Pakistan is the only country in the world together with India to cultivate basmati. Europe imports 300,000 tons of basmati every year, two thirds from Pakistan and one third from India.
According to the Official Journal of the European Union, the word basmati means “that which contains aroma”, and the product is grown “in the north of India, on the slopes of the Himalayas and in the Indus and Ganges plain”. And that’s where part of the problem lies. In fact, before 1947, India and Pakistan formed a single state. After a bloody war, the Pakistani state was born in 1947, but even today some areas are disputed between the two countries. These historical facts continue to be of great importance to many inhabitants of the region. On social networks, the battle over basmati rice has brought back old demons. One user wondered on Twitter: “What does Pakistan have to do with basmati? Even the land on which that country is located is not Pakistan, but ancient India desecrated ”.
Negotiations aborted
On the Pakistani side, attempts are being made to smooth out tensions. Interviewed by Mediapart, Muhammad Kashif Ur Rehman, secretary general of Reap, recalls that basmati is a historical cultivation also of Pakistan and not only of India. According to him, a joint Indo-Pakistani request for PGI certification “would favor both countries”.
However, the association maintains a cautious attitude. After the application submitted by India, Pakistan filed a “motion of opposition” to the EU to prevent exclusive recognition for India. In a press release, Reap stated that she had noticed “disturbing statements” in the media and on social networks and wanted to “reassure all its members that the association and the Pakistani ministry of commerce intervened in the European Union”.
An attempt has already been made in the past to find an agreement on Basmati rice. In 2008 India and Pakistan had started a dialogue on a possible joint candidacy for the IGP in the European Union, but the Mumbai attacks (attributed to Pakistani Islamist militants) had interrupted the negotiations.
The hope of an agreement is still alive. According to some sources close to the negotiation, an agreement between India and Pakistan is not impossible, but the affair is extremely political and generates enormous tensions. Contacted by Mediapart, an employee of a large Pakistani rice-producing company said the government asked exporters not to answer questions on this “sensitive issue”.
Since last spring, as requested by the European process, India and Pakistan have been negotiating a joint candidacy and have time to find an agreement until the beginning of September. If a compromise is found, India’s request will have to be changed to geographically include Pakistan in the basmati production area. This is a deliberately long and extremely bureaucratic process, designed to ensure total impartiality. However, as often happens, diplomatic relations between the two countries are unstable, and there is a risk that everything could suddenly be called into question.
For Pakistan, the stakes are enormous, beyond the simple recognition of the Igp certification for basmati. Agriculture, in fact, accounts for 21.7 percent of the country’s total exports, and rice remains the most exported product.
(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)
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