India may lose Iran basmati rice market to Pakistan

NEW DELHI: India could lose its position as the leading exporter of basmati rice to Iran, with Tehran now beginning to procure the produce from Pakistan, foreign media reported.

For the first time in decades, basmati rice exports from India to Iran have fallen drastically in the first half of 2020-21 fiscal owing to disruption in payments, a result of the US-led sanctions. New Delhi and Tehran are now exploring a conventional barter trading system to address the rising concerns.

The matter was discussed between External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and his Iranian counterpart Javad Zarif during the former’s recent visit to that country. Jaishankar had made a stopover in Tehran while on his way to Moscow last week for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s foreign ministers’ meeting. Iran is now importing basmati rice from Pakistan while Indian consignments worth Rs1,500 crore are stuck owing to payment issues, the sources said.