India signs DPI pacts with 23 countries, UPI goes live in eight nations

India has signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) and agreements with 23 countries to share and cooperate on its Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI), reinforcing the country’s growing role as a global leader in digital governance and fintech innovation. The agreements aim to facilitate the replication and adoption of India’s digital platforms under the India Stack framework, said Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Jitin Prasada in a written reply to Rajya Sabha on Friday. According to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, the MoUs focus on collaboration in key areas such as digital identity, digital payments, data exchange, and service delivery platforms. These partnerships form part of India’s broader DPI diplomacy, which seeks to promote inclusive, scalable, and interoperable digital solutions among partner countries.
India’s flagship digital payments platform, the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), is now operational in more than eight countries, including the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Bhutan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, France, Mauritius, and Qatar. Officials said the international rollout of UPI is facilitating cross-border remittances, enhancing financial inclusion, and strengthening India’s position in the global fintech ecosystem. In addition, India has signed specific MoUs with Cuba, Kenya, the United Arab Emirates, and Lao People’s Democratic Republic for cooperation on DigiLocker, the country’s digital document storage and verification platform. 
The government has also taken steps to globally showcase India’s digital governance success. The India Stack Global portal serves as a gateway for partner countries to explore and adopt India’s DPI solutions, providing access to 18 key digital platforms. Meanwhile, the Global DPI Repository, launched during India’s G20 Presidency in 2023, acts as a global knowledge platform, with India contributing the largest number of DPI solutions. 
India’s Digital Public Infrastructure ecosystem includes platforms such as Aadhaar for digital identity, UPI for payments, DigiLocker for document management, CoWIN for vaccination services, GeM for government procurement, UMANG for citizen services, e-Sanjeevani for telemedicine, eCourts for judicial services, and PM GatiShakti for integrated infrastructure planning, among others.
The countries that have signed MoUs with India for DPI cooperation include Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Antigua and Barbuda, Papua New Guinea, Trinidad and Tobago, Tanzania, Kenya, Cuba, Colombia, Lao PDR, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Ethiopia, Jamaica, The Gambia, Fiji, Guyana, Venezuela, Sri Lanka, Brazil, Lesotho, Maldives and Mongolia.