As UPI launches in Sri Lanka and Mauritius, PM Modi calls it ‘uniting partners with India’

The launch will enable availability of UPI settlement services for Indian nationals travelling to Sri Lanka and Mauritius as well as for Mauritian nationals travelling 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.

The virtual ceremony witnessed the participation of Mauritian Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth, Sri Lanka’s President Ranil Wickremesinghe, India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Governors of the central banks of the three countries.

“Both countries will benefit from UPI as it will increase the speed of digital transformation and will benefit tourism in our countries. Indian tourists will also prioritise destinations which accept UPI. People from Mauritius coming to India will have to buy fewer hard currencies and we can transact in our own currencies in real-time at a lower cost. Eventually we can also move towards peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions as well,” the PM added.

PM Modi also said that India has a “neighbourhood first” policy and its aim is to ensure peace, security and development of the entire Indian Ocean region.

“India has emerged as a leader in Fintech innovation and Digital Public Infrastructure. Prime Minister has placed a strong emphasis on sharing our development experiences and innovation with partner countries. Given India’s robust cultural and people-to-people linkages with Sri Lanka and Mauritius, the launch will benefit a wide cross-section of people through a faster and seamless digital transaction experience and enhance digital connectivity between the countries,” the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.

The Centre has been pushing to export its UPI system along with the RuPay network – which is a rival to Mastercard and Visa – to a number of countries. Earlier this month, NPCI International Payments, in partnership with Lyra, a French e-commerce and payments firm, had announced the acceptance of UPI in France starting with tickets to the Eiffel Tower. Singapore, Bhutan, and the UAE, among others, also accept UPI.