Article:
India’s digital landscape has achieved a significant milestone with the United Payments Interface (UPI) recording over 10 billion transactions. This impressive figure signifies not just a thriving domestic digital market but also offers valuable insights into India’s foreign policy strategies and objectives. The year-on-year growth in UPI transactions has scaled by over 50%, with the platform crossing the 1 billion monthly transactions mark for the first time in October 2019.
Understanding UPI’s Influence on India’s Foreign Policy
The success of UPI has far-reaching implications beyond India’s borders. Here’s a breakdown of how this digital triumph is shaping India’s foreign policy:
– Digital Diplomacy : Aiming to become a digital leader in the Global South, India is prioritizing progressive digital governance. This approach contrasts sharply with China’s strategy of developing physical infrastructure facilities in emerging countries.
– International Expansion : Since June 2023, India has inked agreements with nations like Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Antigua & Barbuda, and Papua New Guinea to share the benefits of India Stack. UPI has also made its presence felt in international markets including France, UAE, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. Countries such as Japan, Mauritius, and Saudi Arabia have shown enthusiasm to adopt the payment system.
– Global Digital Public Infrastructure Repository (GDPIR) : India plans to launch the GDPIR to share innovative digital public infrastructure (DPI) practices with countries worldwide. The GDPIR aims to make tools and resources related to DPI accessible for G20 members and others.
– Economic Diplomacy : UPI’s success helps draw foreign investments and partnerships, thereby bolstering India’s economic diplomacy endeavors and reinforcing bilateral relations.
Decoding the India Stack
India Stack is a government-backed initiative that’s building a robust digital infrastructure to facilitate digital services across varied sectors. It encompasses a set of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that enable governments, businesses, startups, and developers to access and utilize a unique digital Infrastructure. The goal is to streamline and solve hard problems associated with service delivery in India by promoting presence-less, paperless, and cashless transactions.
The India Stack is partitioned into three primary layers – identity, payments, and data management.
– Identity Layer (Aadhaar) : Aadhaar is the foundation of India Stack, providing digital identity products. Issued by the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Aadhaar is used as proof of residence but does not confirm citizenship or domicile rights in India.
– Payments Layer (UPI) : Managed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), UPI forms the payments layer of the India Stack, offering interoperability among money custodians, payment rails, and front-end payment applications. It is licensed to third-party private entities like PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm.
– Data Governance Layer : The Digital Locker, based on Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA), incorporates a secure consent management system to facilitate information sharing for financial, health, and telecom-related products and services.
These layers are integral to various digital solutions launched by the Indian government over the past few years, including CoWin, DigiLocker, Aarogya Setu, and Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
While the vision of India Stack is embedded in its name, its potential reach extends far beyond India’s borders and can be applied to any nation, regardless of its development status.
UPSC Civil Services Examination Interpretation
Consider the following statements from the 2018 UPSC Civil Services Examination:
1. Aadhaar card can be used as a proof of citizenship or domicile.
2. Once issued, the Aadhaar number cannot be deactivated or omitted by the Issuing Authority.
According to the above-mentioned information about Aadhaar, both these statements are incorrect, hence making (d) Neither 1 nor 2, the correct answer.