Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized the remarkable evolution of cashless payments and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India, asserting that Indians now conduct more cashless transactions in a month than users in the United States do in three years.
During an interaction with the Indian community in Nigeria, Jaishankar highlighted the profound impact of technology on the lives of Indian citizens. He noted a significant shift away from cash payments, with India now processing as many cashless transactions in a month as the United States does in three years.
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"The life of every Indian citizen has become easier and this is because we have embraced technology in a very deep way. You can see this in payment, very few people today pay in cash and very few people accept cash...Today, we do as many cashless payments in India in a month as much as America does in three years," Mr Jaishankar said at the event.
Jaishankar identified five key examples illustrating India's transformation over the past decade, citing UPI, the 5G stack, and the successful handling of coronavirus vaccinations as notable advancements. He commended India's response to the Covid-19 pandemic during the interaction.
"For me, how a country deals with a challenge, recovers from the challenge, and is able to pose such a strong economic performance, how the life of an average citizen becomes better, how we are capable of something that captures the imagination of the world and how do we look after our people outside the country. These are five true examples of what changed in India in the last decade," Jaishankar said.