“Incredible Developments,” Baerbock Remarks: “I Thought This Would be Impossible in Germany”

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has lauded India's Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for its remarkable speed and efficiency in facilitating transactions. At the Annual Ambassadors' Conference in Berlin, where she shared the stage with Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, Baerbock reflected on her time as an ambassador in India two years ago, recalling how she saw locals seamlessly using UPI for their grocery purchases.

“We met two years ago for the first time when I was in Delhi. I used your Metro and experienced your modernisation strategy kilometre by kilometre,” she recalled.

Baerbock expressed her astonishment at witnessing the ease with which people made instant payments through UPI while shopping on the streets, remarking, “I also saw people buying groceries and was very impressed by your Unified Payments Interface, a digital instant payment system. I thought this would be impossible in Germany."

She also reflected on the broader impact of digitalization, noting that although street-level digital payments were not yet common in Germany, her experience spurred her to focus on improving digital processes within her own ministry, especially regarding visa applications.

German Minister Uses UPI in India

In a similar vein, German Transport Minister Volker Wissing previously garnered attention for using UPI to purchase vegetables from a street vendor in Bengaluru, an experience that the German Embassy in India celebrated. They hailed UPI as a standout achievement in India's digital infrastructure, emphasizing its ability to facilitate rapid transactions for millions of users.