UPI will also be used for payment in Maldives, MoU was signed in the presence of S Jaishankar

India and Maldives have signed an agreement to start UPI payments in the archipelago nation. Giving this information, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that this agreement will have a very positive impact on the tourist tourism industry of Maldives. This Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed on Friday during the three-day visit of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to Maldives.

The Foreign Minister said in a post on X, "The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Maldives have signed an MoU for the introduction of a digital payment system in Maldives."

UPI, i.e. Unified Payment Interface, developed by the National Payments Corporation of India, is a system that provides instant payment facility from one account to another using mobile.

In a press conference after meeting Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer, Jaishankar said that India has brought a revolution in the world of digital transactions through its UPI. He stressed that financial inclusion in India has reached a new level with the help of UPI. He said, "40% of the real-time digital payment transactions in the world are done in our country." Jaishankar said, "We see this revolution in our lives every day. I am happy that with the signing of this MoU today, we have taken the first step towards bringing this digital innovation to Maldives."

Jaishankar said that I congratulated all the stakeholders on this agreement and hoped that very soon transactions will start happening here (Maldives) through UPI. He said, "This facility will have a very positive impact on the tourism sector." Tourism is the main source of economic activity in Maldives. Its contribution to the country's GDP is 30%. 60% of the country's foreign exchange reserves come from this sector.