Anurag Kumar
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on Thursday that New Delhi and Paris have reached an agreement to implement India’s unified payments interface (UPI) in France, providing a significant boost to the market expansion of India’s UPI. The service will commence at the Eiffel Tower, where Indian tourists can use a mobile application to make payments in Indian Rupees.
“France and India have agreed to use UPI in France.” In the coming days, it will commence at the Eiffel Tower, which means that Indian tourists can now pay in rupees,” he told the Indian diaspora in Paris.
#WATCH | India and France have agreed to use UPI in France. In the coming days, it will begin from the Eiffel Tower which means Indian tourists will now be able to pay in rupees: PM Modi pic.twitter.com/kenzDkdbaS
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2023
The development occurred approximately one year after the National Payments Corporation Of India (NPCI), the umbrella organisation that provides UPI service, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Lyra, France’s rapid and secure online payment system.
Post-study visa for Indian students
Indian students pursuing a master’s degree in France will now be eligible for a five-year post-graduation work visa.
“Previously, it was decided that students studying in France would receive a two-year work visa, but now students pursuing a master’s degree in France will receive a five-year work visa,” Prime Minister Modi said.
New consulate in Marseille
India has decided, with the assistance of the French government, to establish a new consulate in Marseille in order to improve the convenience of Indians living there.
‘First member’ of Alliance Francaise
In addition, he recalled being the first Indian member of the Alliance Francaise, which opened in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, forty years ago. In addition, he described how his government made an effort to locate his identity card from that centre in old documents and provided him with a photocopy of it.
“My relationship with France is historic, and I will never forget it. In Ahmedabad, Gujarat, the Alliance Francaise, a French cultural institution, was founded approximately forty years ago. “Today, the first Indian member of that cultural centre will address you,” he said.
PM Narendra Modi speaks of him taking membership of Alliance Francais around 40 years back. Here is his membership card. pic.twitter.com/92J5QLAhGw
— ANI (@ANI) July 13, 2023
More Mbappe fans in India than France
Moreover, he asserted that there are more Kylian Mbappe supporters in India than in his own country.
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“French football player Kylian Mbappe is extremely popular among India’s young. Mbappe is likely more well-known in India than in France,” he said.
