Launch of UPI a milestone in existing strong bilateral relations, says Mauritius envoy Haymandoyal Dillum

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Mauritius counterpart Pravind Kumar Jugnauth launched the virtual launch of the RuPay and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) link between Mauritius and India, High Commissioner of Mauritius in India Haymandoyal Dillum. ANI on Tuesday called the launch of UPI services in his country “a milestone in the existing strong bilateral relationship”. Speaking to ANI, Haymandoyal Dillum said, “On Monday, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Pravind launched the virtual UPI as well as a Rupay and I take it as another milestone in the existing strong bilateral relations.” Dillum said that both Prime Ministers had discussed the UPI interface during the G20 meeting in New Delhi last year. The high commissioner expressed delight that within a short period discussions between RBI and Bank of Mauritius took place. “It is Prime Minister Modi’s policy on neighbourhood and SAGAR, we are glad that it has materialised today. We all know there are strong cultural relations between two countries but now it has given a new dimension to our relationship with digital connectivity. I hope that both nationals Mauritius, as well as India, will benefit greatly from this interface and will facilitate payment,” he added. The Mauritius High Commissioner mentioned that his country is a tourist destination and has put a target that around 100,000 Indians should visit Mauritius. Highlighting further Dillium said, “With the inauguration of Ayodhya Ram temple there is a big rush for Mauritian nationals to proceed to India. Sri Lanka has also joined this interface, so I think cooperation with these countries of the Indian Ocean will benefit a lot from this interface.” Mauritius Prime Minister Jugnauth said during the video conference,“The Rupay card co-branded with our national payment switch, the MoCAS, will be designated as the domestic card in Mauritius.” The extension of RuPay card services in Mauritius will enable Mauritian banks to issue cards based on the RuPay mechanism in Mauritius and facilitate usage of RuPay Card for settlements both in India and Mauritius. India, which has emerged as a leader in fintech innovation and Digital Public Infrastructure placed a strong emphasis on sharing its development experiences and innovation with partner countries. UPI is India’s mobile-based fast payment system, which facilitates customers to make round-the-clock payments instantly, using a Virtual Payment Address (VPA) created by the customer. UPI payment system has become hugely popular for retail digital payments in India, and its adoption is increasing at a rapid pace. A key emphasis of the Indian government has been on ensuring that the benefits of UPI are not limited to India only, but other countries, too, benefit from it. So far, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, France, UAE, and Singapore have partnered with India on emerging fintech and payment solutions. With inputs from agencies