India Signs BIT With UAE To Further Promote Investments
Modi, Nahyan launch RuPay card at Abu Dabhi
ABU DHABI: India and the UAE on Tuesday signed the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT), which will be a key enabler for further promoting investments in both countries.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan leaders witnessed the exchange of the BIT.
"This agreement will be a key enabler for further promoting investments in both countries," India's Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
India has signed both a Bilateral Investment Treaty and a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with the UAE, the statement added.
Earlier in the month, the Union Cabinet in New Delhi gave its approval for signing and ratification of BIT with the UAE. The BIT is aimed at improving the confidence of investors, especially big investors, resulting in a rise in foreign investments and overseas direct investment (ODI) opportunities. It is also likely to have a positive impact on employment generation.
Besides increasing investments in India, the BIT with the UAE is also likely to help in realising the goal of Atmanirbhar Bharat by encouraging domestic manufacturing, reducing import dependence, and increasing exports, an official release had earlier said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UAE's President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan together launched the UPI RuPay card service. President Nahyan swiped a card embossed with his name to mark the start of the service in Abu Dabhi.
"We are embarking on a new FinTech era with the launch of my UPI RuPay card and your Jaywan card," Modi said as he met President Nahyan and termed it as a big achievement in itself.
The two leaders witnessed the exchange of multiple bilateral agreements, according to a statement from the Ministry of External Affairs.
It included an agreement on interlinking of the instant payment platforms - UPI (India) and AANI (UAE), which will facilitate seamless cross-border transactions between the two countries.
This follows the MoU on interlinking payment and messaging systems signed in July last year during Modi's visit to Abu Dhabi.
Another agreement on interlinking domestic debit/credit cards was signed vis-a-vis RuPay (India) with JAYWAN (UAE), which would serve as an important step in building financial sector cooperation and enhancing the universal acceptance of RuPay across the UAE.
A day earlier, India had announced that its UPI payment would not be available in Mauritius and Sri Lanka. Earlier on February 2, India formally launched the UPI at the iconic Eiffel Tower in Paris terming it as taking Prime Minister Modi's "vision of taking UPI global."
Unified Payments Interface is an Indian instant payment system developed by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) in 2016.
On a two-day, two-nation trip to the gulf region, Modi will inaugurate the Bochasanwasi Shri Akshar Purushottam Swaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS) Mandir, the first Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi, on Wednesday. He will then proceed to Doha in Qatar.