India and UAE today signed three MoUs in the banking and education sectors. The MoUs in the banking sector pertain to the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions and cooperation for interlinking their payment and messaging systems, while the MoU in the education sector signed between the Ministry of Education of the Government of India, the Department of Education and Knowledge of Abu Dhabi, and the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi relates to setting up of an IIT campus in Abu Dhabi.
The MoU signed by the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, Shaktikanta Das, and the Governor of the Central Bank of UAE, Khaled Mohamed Balama for the use of local currencies for cross-border transactions covers all current account transactions and permitted capital account transactions. This arrangement would also promote investments and remittances between the two countries.
The two central banks also agreed to cooperate on linking their Fast Payment Systems (FPSs) – Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India with the Instant Payment Platform (IPP) of UAE, linking the respective Card Switches (RuPay switch and UAESWITCH) and exploring the linking of payments messaging systems. The UPI-IPP linkage will enable the users in either country to make fast, convenient, safe, and cost-effective cross-border funds transfers. The linking of Card Switches will facilitate the mutual acceptance of domestic cards and the processing of card transactions.
The Prime Minister termed MoUs signed in the banking sector as a very important aspect of India-UAE cooperation saying it will pave the way for enhanced economic collaboration and make international financial interactions simpler.
Prime Minister Modi and President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan also held delegation-level talks and a one-on-one meeting. Discussions touched upon a broad range of areas of bilateral cooperation including trade and investment, fintech, energy, renewables, climate action, higher education and people-to-people ties.
Prime Minister Modi has since returned to New Delhi after concluding his successful visit to France and UAE.
