Anwar Ratol Mango GI Conflict between India and Pakistan

Journal: Trends in Intellectual Property Research

Publication: 2026-04-09 · Vol. 4 No. 2 · pp. 29–34

DOI: 10.69971/tipr.4.2.2026.119

Abstract

Mango (Mangifera indica L) is native to the Indian sub-continent fruit, and is the national fruit of Pakistan and India. The Anwar Ratul or Anwar Rataul or Rataul (as spelled in India) or Anwar Ratol (as spelled in Pakistan) mango, a small, fibreless mango is renowned for its unmatched sweetness. The territorial map and horticulture regime of Indian sub-continent were mutated in 1947. At the time of the partitioning of British India into India and Pakistan, millions of individuals moved across the newly drawn border and along with them they carried seeds, cuttings and saplings of their motherlands. Rataul mango was one of such botanical migrants. India has granted it GI while Pakistan still did not since the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 of India is bit mature than the Geographical Indications (Registration and Protection) Act of 2020 of Pakistan. There was no formal opposition to it by Pakistan, as there was in the Basmati rice GI, where Pakistan objected to the Indian GI application and sought its own protection in EU. The main question here is whether GI protection is historically oriented, or reputation and economic affiliation based. Current study explores the history of this GI dispute. The study highlights the fluidity of the germplasm across borders, emotional partition legacy and the use of the king of fruits to assert the national identity.