Dasheri, Langra, Haribhanga and diplomacy: The various flavours of mango

Amid Dhaka’s strained relations with New Delhi, Muhammad Yunus, the Chief Adviser to Bangladesh’s interim authorities, despatched 1,000 kg of Haribhanga mangoes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The gesture got here a few month after PM Modi prolonged Eid al-Adha greetings to Yunus and the folks of Bangladesh. The reward may be a sign of continuity as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who’s now in self-imposed exile, too despatched mangoes. Mangoes, a fruit that’s native to the Indian subcontinent, have performed a juicy position in diplomacy, together with one involving China’s Mao Zedong and Pakistan.

A consignment of Haribhanga mangoes – a premium selection from northern Bangladesh – was dispatched to PM Modi final weekend, in line with the Dhaka Tribune. Not simply the Prime Minister, the mangoes may also be shared with PMO dignitaries, diplomats, and different officers.

The Dhaka-based newspaper added that the interim authorities can be sending mangoes to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, persevering with the long-standing relationship between Bangladesh and the state.

Final Thursday, Yunus despatched 300 kg of Haribhanga mangoes to Tripura CM Manik Saha, mentioned the Dhaka Tribune.

Beforehand, Hasina would ship mangoes and Hilsa fish to CMs of Bengal and a few Northeast states as a result of their proximity to Bangladesh.

Notably, the mangoes have been routed to India by way of the Akhaura land port.

This gesture is important in opposition to the backdrop of India-Bangladesh tensions since Hasina’s August 2024 ouster. Her in search of asylum in India following student-led protests stirred anti-India sentiments in Bangladesh.

The Yunus authorities, too, has proven indicators of leaning towards China, with Beijing ramping up investments and loans below its Belt and Highway Initiative.

Nonetheless, this transfer by Yunus mirrors Hasina’s balancing act, tiptoeing between Indian and Chinese language pursuits.

However this isn’t the primary time mangoes have been used as a diplomatic reward. It’s been in follow for many years, particularly within the Indian subcontinent. Listed here are the situations when mangoes sweetened ties between nations.

NEHRU’S MANGO DIPLOMACY IN THE Fifties

Within the Fifties, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru leveraged mangoes as a diplomatic device to foster goodwill with overseas leaders.

Nehru reportedly gifted mangoes to dignitaries throughout their state visits to India. When travelling overseas, Nehru carried mangoes as items.

A report in The Indian Specific narrates a notable occasion from 1955 when Nehru gifted eight saplings of Dasheri and Langra mangoes to then Chinese language Premier Zhou Enlai. The saplings have been meant for planting in Guangzhou’s Individuals’s Park.

The mangoes have been a return reward for Zhou, who, in November 1954, had showered Nehru with a slew of unique and valuable items, that included a pair of noticed deer, a pair of crimson crested cranes, and 100 goldfish, in line with the report.

Different studies recommend that Nehru additionally gifted mangoes to Soviet chief Nikita Khrushchev throughout his 1955 go to to India.

These situations established mangoes as a tender energy device in India’s early diplomacy.

PAKISTAN’S MANGO GIFT TO MAO ZEDONG

In August 1968, Pakistan’s Overseas Minister Mian Arshad Hussain gifted a crate of mangoes to Chinese language Chairman Mao Zedong throughout a diplomatic go to.

As reported by the BBC, Mao, uninterested within the fruit himself, redistributed the mangoes to manufacturing unit employees.

The reward arrived at a time when Mao was in search of to reassert his authority amid factional struggles, and the mangoes turned an sudden propaganda device.

Employees at Beijing’s Tsinghua College, the place Mao despatched one mango, preserved it in formaldehyde and created wax replicas for show throughout the nation.

Mangoes weren’t widespread in China then.

These replicas have been paraded in processions, with one manufacturing unit even putting a mango reproduction on an altar, the place employees paid every day homage.

The BBC notes {that a} employee unaware of the fruit’s significance was executed for evaluating a mango to a candy potato.

Mango imagery additionally appeared on posters, badges, and home items.

The gesture seemingly strengthened Pakistan-China ties, as Pakistan sought to counterbalance India’s regional affect, significantly after the 1965 India-Pakistan warfare.

ZIA UL-HAQ’S GIFT OF MANGOES TO INDIRA GANDHI

In 1981, Pakistan’s army ruler Zia ul-Haq despatched mangoes to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi as a goodwill gesture, as per a report within the information company PTI.

Whereas the gesture didn’t resolve deep-seated conflicts between India and Pakistan, it was seemingly a present that Indira Gandhi appreciated, as per PTI.

The mangoes gifted by Zia to Indira Gandhi was generally known as Anwar Rataul in Pakistan and Rataul in India. Named after a Uttar Pradesh village, it sparked a cultural tug-of-war between the 2 nations over its origins.

Cultural activist and mango aficionado Sohail Hashmi advised PTI that quickly after the reward, mango fans and specialists mentioned Ratauls solely grew in India and what was gifted to Indira have been “fakes”. Hasmi mentioned farmers from Rataul introduced their case to Gandhi, asserting the mango’s Indian roots.

“The mango is known as Rataul as a result of it was developed right here,” Hashmi advised PTI. “Some individuals who migrated to Pakistan took cuttings and started cultivating the range in Multan.”

Although each nations declare it, its position as a diplomatic reward between two arch-rivals reveals how essential mangoes have been in India-Pakistan diplomacy for the reason that Eighties.

MANGO TIES WITH THE US

Throughout his go to to India in March 2006, US President George W Bush reportedly expressed a eager want to style Indian mangoes. On the time, a virtually two-decade-long ban had barred Indian mango exports to the US.

Bush’s curiosity prompted a cope with then-Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, resulting in the launch of the “mango initiative”.

Consequently, Indian mangoes re-entered the American market. On April 27, 2007, a cargo of 150 bins arrived at New York’s John F Kennedy Airport in what The New York Occasions known as “most likely essentially the most eagerly anticipated fruit supply ever”.

US officers reportedly mentioned the export marked the dedication of each nations to deepen commerce relations and create contemporary financial alternatives for his or her folks.

NAWAZ SHARIF TO NARENDRA MODI

In July 2015, Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif despatched a field of mangoes to PM Modi, in addition to then-President Pranab Mukherjee, former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, in a gesture aimed toward fostering goodwill, The Daybreak reported.

Whereas Modi and different recipients acknowledged the reward, it did little to ease tensions between India and Pakistan.

Over the many years, mangoes have served as a type of diplomatic forex throughout Asia, particularly inside the Indian subcontinent. Although such gestures could not have notably eased India-Pakistan tensions, Yunus’ continuation of Hasina’s custom may be a sign from Bangladesh to India.

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