- Thursday, February 27, 2025
During a joint address with the Sri Lankan leader, the Indian PM said the agreement signed to launch UPI in the maritime neighbour will increase fintech connectivity.
By: Shubham Ghosh
IN yet another significant step related to India’s popular Unified Payments Interface (UPI) — an instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India — India and Sri Lanka on Friday (21) signed an agreement on the acceptance of the UPI in the island-nation.
Through the UPI which is a mobile-based system, customers can make fast round-the-clock payments, using a virtual payment address created by them.
Speaking at the press meet with President @RW_UNP. https://t.co/9lirjZ9aXo
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 21, 2023
The agreement took place in Delhi as Sri Lankan president Ranil Wickremesinghe reached India on a two-day visit on Thursday (20).
During a joint address with the Sri Lankan leader, Modi said the agreement signed to launch UPI in the maritime neighbour will increase fintech connectivity. So far, countries such as France, UAE and Singapore have partnered with India on emerging fintech and payment solutions.
While India and Singapore concluded an agreement to link their respective payment systems in February, France has also agreed to use the UPI payment mechanism earlier in July. It will begin from the iconic Eiffel Tower, Modi announced during his recent visit to the European nation.
A memorandum of understanding was also exchanged for interlinking the payment and messaging systems between the central banks of India and the UAE to facilitate the integration of India’s UPI and the latter’s Instant Payments Platform.
Several other agreements were also exchanged between the two South Asian neighbours in the presence of Modi and Wickremesinghe, who made his first visit to India after taking over the office last year amid an economic turmoil.
India has extended financial assistance worth around $4 billion to the island-nation, including lines of credit for purchases of food and fuel last year while it encountered the crisis.
India and Sri Lanka will also carry out feasibility studies on petroleum line and land-bridge connectivity between them, Modi said on Friday following his talks with the Sri Lankan president.
Emphasising the current year as an important one for relations between India and Sri Lanka, Modi said, “We (India-Sri Lanka) have decided to begin talks on economic and technological cooperation. We have also agreed to increase air connectivity between two countries.”
Ahead of meeting with Modi, Wickremesinghe had talks with India’s external affairs minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, national security adviser Ajit Doval and Indian businessman Gautam Adani.
