India and Pakistan are the world’s largest producers of basmati rice. Both countries claim exclusive rights to the name “basmati.” They want to limit the label to rice grown in specific regions. This would allow producers in those areas to sell it at higher prices.
EU negotiators who are in New Delhi to seal a trade agreement are being asked to accept India’s right to use the designation basmati, officials told FT. “But that would cause a diplomatic rift with Islamabad, so Brussels is playing for time,” one official said.
India has waited seven years for its application to protect the term in the EU market to be recognised and is “growing impatient,” as per FT.
In 2023, Pakistan filed its own application to define the rice’s production area and methods, including four districts in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir. EU officials note that approving Pakistan’s claim would imply de facto recognition of its claim to sovereignty over those lands, which would outrage New Delhi.
For both India and Pakistan, the grain has long been a symbol of national pride. It is mostly cultivated in the paddies of historic Punjab, the breadbasket region now divided between the two countries.In the early 2000s, Pakistan supported an Indian effort to overturn patents for basmati rice held by Texas-based company RiceTec, which the two South Asian powers at the time accused of committing “biopiracy”. They also launched working groups to file a joint application to the EU.But EU hopes that the two countries could work together were dashed when terrorists backed by Pakistani intelligence killed more than 100 people in Mumbai in late 2008.
“The attacks poisoned the two sides’ willingness to collaborate, even on issues of mutual economic interest. In 2018, India proceeded with an application for sole ownership,” as per FT.
New Delhi is seeking exclusive ownership of Basmati rice to safeguard the heritage and authenticity of the grain, strengthening India’s global trade position. The move may affect Pakistani exporters, who also market their rice under the Basmati label.
In the 2024-25, India had exported basmati rice worth ₹6,374 crores to Iran, which accounted for 12.6% share of India’s total basmati exports in 2024-25.
“The proceedings in relation to both Indian and Pakistani applications are running in parallel,” the EU delegation in Pakistan said in a statement.
India’s commerce minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, following a visit by an EU trade delegation that his country was working with bloc to finalise a free trade agreement that would ‘‘benefit businesses and consumers on both sides’’.
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