India-Pakistan battle for basmati rice turns acrimonious

NEW DELHI — India and Pakistan rarely struggle to find things to fight about, and the true ownership of basmati rice is no exception.

But what’s been a long simmering battle between the nuclear-armed neighbors is now boiling over as India’s top agricultural science body accuses Pakistan of “illegally” growing copyrighted strains of the staple in South Asian cooking — and a major export for both countries.