India's Digital Success: UPI and Aadhaar Models Adopted by Dozens of Countries Worldwide, Says Minister Vaishnaw

Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Union IT and Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has highlighted that India's digital infrastructure systems are gaining global recognition and implementation, with approximately 13 nations now utilizing the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and 50 countries adopting the Aadhaar model for digital identification purposes.

During his address at the NDTV World Summit held in Delhi, Vaishnaw described this widespread adoption as a "major achievement" for India's technological innovations.

In conversation with NDTV Senior Managing Editor Vishnu Som, Vaishnaw stated, "Over 13 countries have implemented the UPI architecture, including several developed nations. Japan has specifically patterned their system after the UPI architecture."

Som observed that this represents more than just policy implementation but showcases India's commitment to sharing its digital expertise and infrastructure globally.

Vaishnaw emphasized that India's technological approach is distinguished by its transparency. "The significant difference in our policy implementation is that we made everything open source. We established open standards and provided open access," he elaborated.

This approach means that any country wishing to implement these solutions can maintain their digital and data sovereignty while simultaneously protecting their citizens' privacy, according to the Union Minister.

Vaishnaw further explained that India designed its digital framework to be easily adaptable worldwide. "We structured the entire system in a way that people found highly accessible," he noted. "We encouraged countries to integrate it with their own language, cultural elements, and value systems."

"We take pride in the fact that Hindu numerals, which we provided to the world - first to Arab nations, and subsequently to Europe where they became known as Arabic numerals despite their Hindu origins - were shared without charging any royalties," he remarked.

Vaishnaw concluded by stating that India believes knowledge developed within the country should benefit humanity at large. "We don't deploy military forces to conquer other nations; instead, we share our intellectual resources and capacity to enhance other societies."