Four countries in the Caribbean—namely, Antigua, Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago—along with Sierra Leone in Africa, Suriname in South America, Armenia in Eastern Europe, and Papua New Guinea in Southeast Asia are among the select group of eight nations slated to embrace India Stack within their borders, based on current information.
Additional details indicate that discussions are underway with over half a dozen other nations, including Mauritius and Saudi Arabia, who are engaged in dialogues with the Indian government. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already articulated the valuable role of India’s digital public infrastructure for both the Global South and more developed regions. At a recent B20 conference, Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys and the inaugural chairman of UIDAI (Aadhaar), projected that India’s digital public infrastructure will expand its reach to encompass 50 countries over the coming five years. The Global South emerges as a particularly promising market for the adoption of India Stack.
Originating with the introduction of Aadhaar, India Stack has evolved to encompass various components, including e-Know Your Customer (eKYC) for swift, paperless identity verification. The e-Sign functionality facilitates the attachment of legally binding electronic signatures to documents. The UPI framework streamlines cashless transactions via QR codes, while DigiLocker serves as a central hub for document and certificate verification. Notably, the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) has been recently integrated to democratize the e-commerce landscape. An account aggregator, aligned with the open banking concept, is also part of the stack’s offerings.
India is notably enthusiastic about extending India Stack’s capabilities to international enterprises and countries keen on propelling their digital transformation endeavors. The government asserts that the principles, technological tools, and features constituting India Stack can be applied across different countries, without necessitating unique technology or exclusive rights.