India and Bhutan have announced a new cross-border remittance initiative that will link India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) with Bhutan’s postal network through the Universal Postal Union (UPU) PosTransfer system.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Communications, the initiative is designed to enhance financial connectivity and make digital remittance services “more accessible” to citizens in both countries.
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As part of the collaboration, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on postal cooperation, establishing a formal framework between India Post and Bhutan Post.
The MoU covers cooperation in postal operations, technology development, capacity building, logistics connectivity, philately, and knowledge exchange.
Both sides highlighted the importance of capacity building, training and professional development.
Under the cooperation framework, Bhutanese postal officials will take part in training programmes in India alongside Indian counterparts at institutions under the Department of Posts, including the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai National Postal Academy and other training centres.
These programmes will focus on operational expertise, management capacity and emerging technologies in the postal sector.
India and Bhutan also agreed to deepen collaboration in the technology domain, including sharing experience and best practices from India Post’s evolving technology ecosystem.
This includes work on digital postal systems and the Digital Address Code, aimed at improving addressing accuracy, logistics planning and service delivery.
The statement noted that the two sides welcomed continued cooperation in philately and cultural exchange, with Bhutan Post invited to participate in philatelic exhibitions organized in India.
India further expressed its willingness to share experience and knowledge in postal financial services, particularly on how postal networks can support financial inclusion by channelising public savings and providing accessible financial services to communities.
The announcement comes amid a broader push to take UPI global.
Earlier this year, it was confirmed that India’s UPI will launch on a trial basis in Japan during fiscal year 2026, enabling Indian tourists to make direct-bank-account QR code payments in partnership with Japan’s NTT DATA.
