External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar stated that the agreement between India and the Maldives on Friday to implement the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) throughout the Indian Ocean archipelago will boost tourism.
Jaishankar's meeting with his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer ended with the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on the digital payment system between the (NPCI) National Payments Corporation of India and the Maldives’ economic development and trade ministry.
On Friday, Jaishankar commenced a three-day trip to the Maldives, marking his first visit since President Mohamed Muizzu's administration took office in November 2023.
Viewed as a component of attempts to revive bilateral relations, the visit came about after Muizzu took a number of actions to lessen his nation's reliance on India and to bring it closer to China.
The two parties also extended a second Memorandum of Understanding, giving the National Centre for Good Governance in India and the Maldives' Civil Service Commission an additional 1,000 training slots for Maldivian civil servants.
UPI in UAE (united arab emirates)
Last month, NPCI International Payments Limited formed a partnership with Network International, a major Middle Eastern and African digital commerce enterprise, to offer UPI payments services in the United Arab Emirates. Marking the seventh addition to the UPI-enabled countries.
As per the statement, Network manages more than 200,000 point-of-sale terminals for more than 60,000 retailers across various industries, such as supermarkets, lodging, transportation, and retail.
UPI-enabled countries
Right now, UPI is accessible in six different nations. Nepal, Mauritius, Bhutan, France, Singapore, and Sri Lanka are a few of them. UAE raises the tally to seven.
The RBI and NPCI also hope to see increased use of UPI outside of India. Twenty more countries are to be added to the UPI rollout in the next five years.
