NEW DELHI - The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) signed with the UAE and operationalised last year is a “special achievement for India’s foreign and trade policy,” the Minister of State for External Affairs, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, told Lok Sabha, the lower House of India’s Parliament yesterday.

He was answering a question by Member of Parliament (MP) Harnath Singh Yadav about “whether there are some special achievements of India's foreign policy in the recent years, and if so, details thereof".

Dr. Singh cited the India-Israel-USA-UAE (I2U2) Summit last year as another special achievement.

“India is actively promoting the acceptance of RuPay and UPI-powered apps with partner countries.” UPI stands for Unified Payments Interface. Like UPI, Rupee and Payment (RuPay) is facilitated by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), an initiative of India’s central bank and the Indian Banks’ Association.

The NPCI has enabled this facility for four Gulf countries – the UAE, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. “As of date, banks from 22 countries have opened Special Rupee Vostro Accounts in Indian banks to aid this effort,” the Minister informed Parliament.

The MP asked "whether India's foreign policy has resulted in progress in the country's economy, and if so, details thereof".

Dr. Singh answered in the affirmative. “There is a greater integration of the Indian economy with regional and global economies. This has contributed to a deeper and extensive trade, technology and investment partnerships, accrued benefits from migration and mobility of India’s skilled professionals globally and expansion of India’s developmental template internationally.”