Under 100 Words: A Compact Summary
India’s UPI expands to Sri Lanka and Mauritius on February 12, featuring virtual participation from leaders. RuPay card services debut in Mauritius, promoting digital connectivity and leveraging cultural ties. This aligns with India’s global push for the rupee, demonstrated in previous initiatives with the UAE, France, and Singapore (India’s UPI Expansion to Sri Lanka and Mauritius).
- India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) is on the brink of expansion into Sri Lanka and Mauritius, aligning with countries where this payment system holds prominence or is seamlessly linked with their swift payment networks.
- On February 12, at 1 PM, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, and Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth will virtually participate in the launch. The event will also witness the presence of the respective central bank governors.
- Alongside the introduction of UPI, RuPay card services are set to debut in Mauritius (India’s UPI Expansion to Sri Lanka and Mauritius).
- The Indian government, in a statement on February 11, emphasized that the launch will bring substantial advantages to a diverse range of individuals, leveraging India’s strong cultural and people-to-people connections with Sri Lanka and Mauritius.
- The initiative aims to provide a swifter and more seamless digital transaction experience, fostering enhanced digital connectivity between the two nations (India’s UPI Expansion to Sri Lanka and Mauritius).
- “The launch will enable the availability of UPI settlement services for Indian nationals traveling to Sri Lanka and Mauritius as well as for Mauritian nationals traveling to India. The extension of RuPay card services in Mauritius will enable Mauritian banks to issue cards based on RuPay mechanism in Mauritius and facilitate usage of RuPay Card for settlements both in India and Mauritius,” it added.
- In recent years, Indian authorities have actively promoted the global adoption of the rupee and its payment systems (India’s UPI Expansion to Sri Lanka and Mauritius).
- The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) took a significant step in July 2022 by announcing the establishment of a mechanism to facilitate the settlement of international trade transactions in rupees.
- In July of the preceding year, India entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to connect the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with the United Arab Emirates’ Instant Payment Platform (IPP).
- This initiative closely followed Prime Minister Modi’s announcement during his visit to France that Indian tourists would soon have the ability to make rupee payments using UPI while atop the Eiffel Tower.
- Before these developments, in February, India and Singapore formalized an agreement to link UPI with Singapore’s fast payments system, PayNow (India’s UPI Expansion to Sri Lanka and Mauritius).
- Ongoing discussions are also in progress with Indonesia, as well as countries in Latin America and Africa, reflecting India’s concerted efforts to expand the global usage and acceptance of its currency and payment systems.
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