Friends, tea and payment through UPI… I will not forget, what did French President Macron admire?

French President Emmanuel Macron was impressed by India’s digital payments system Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which was used to pay for the tea he and Prime Minister Narendra Modi enjoyed in Jaipur. Macron was in India on a two-day state visit and was the chief guest at this year’s Republic Day. In his speech at the official banquet hosted for him by President Draupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan, Macron, using the Hindi word for tea, said he would not forget the tea he had with PM Modi.

Macron said that I will not forget the tea that we shared together near the palace (Hawa Mahal). This was tea paid with UPI. It’s a perfect synthesis of why it’s so special. It’s the warmth of friendship and such celebration, tradition. This is what we want to do together. In a video tweeted by BJP, PM Modi and Macron were seen chatting while sipping tea served in kulhads (clay cups) outside a shop near Hawa Mahal. After tea, PM Modi was seen paying for tea through UPI.

They showed Macron making a UPI payment and when the shopkeeper immediately received payment confirmation, the French President was pleasantly surprised. While visiting a local shop to sip tea, PM Modi explained the UPI system to Macron. The UPI system combines multiple bank accounts into a single mobile application, allowing users to access various banking features, make easy fund transfers, and make payments to merchants. During his visit to France in July last year, PM Modi had said that Indian travelers would soon be able to make payments using UPI in France.