New Delhi: A day after New Delhi announced that it will set up a framework to settle bilateral trade with the UAE, one of its largest trading partners, in rupees and dirhams and interlink their fast payment systems, it has proposed a similar move to Indonesia, reports said.
Talks were held on Sunday at a meeting between Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Indonesian counterpart, Mulyani Indrawati, on the sidelines of the third G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.
The arrangement between New Delhi and Jakarta will be similar to that with Abu Dhabi, and could see Indian exporters settle their trade in Indonesian rupiah, while those exporting goods from India could earn in Indian rupees, the Times of India reported on Monday, citing an Indian government official.
The Indonesian finance minister said on Sunday she and her Indian counterpart had discussed working together to strengthen policy dialogues on trade, digital technologies, payment systems, and growth.
The two countries are also reportedly seeking to expand the scope of digital payments using the framework of India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) instant payment system developed by National Payments Corporation of India.
This comes just days after Narendra Modi, while on a visit in Paris, announced that the UPI system will be made available in France, allowing Indian tourists to access the iconic Eiffel Tower by making a payment in rupees through a mobile application. On Saturday, India announced it is interlinking its UPI with the UAE’s Instant Payments Platform.
