India weighs Alipay+–UPI link amid China thaw

India explores cross‑border UPI link with Alipay+

Indian government and central bank officials are in discussions with Ant International to allow Alipay+, the digital payments platform founded by China’s Ant Group, to connect with India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for cross‑border transactions, according to two government sources cited by Reuters. The proposed linkage would enable Indian travellers to use UPI to pay merchants in countries that already support Alipay+, settling purchases in Indian rupees while abroad.

Alipay+ currently connects about 1.8 billion user accounts with more than 150 million merchants across over 100 markets, with significant reach in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. UPI, meanwhile, has become ubiquitous domestically, processing close to 18 billion transactions each month. Indian authorities have been seeking ways to extend UPI’s utility beyond national borders to ease payments for tourists and the diaspora and to lower the friction and cost of cross‑border spending.

The discussions with Singapore‑based Ant International have not been made public. India’s finance ministry, the Reserve Bank of India and the National Payments Corporation of India, which operates UPI, did not immediately respond to requests for comment, and Ant International also did not comment, the Reuters report said. A final decision has yet to be taken.

Security, data and geopolitics shape the decision

Government sources stressed that any approval for an Alipay+–UPI link will depend on security clearances. One official cited by Reuters said there are “sensitivities involved in terms of geopolitical positioning or in terms of securing the country’s digital infrastructure and data because of Alipay’s roots to China.” Those concerns reflect India’s broader stance on Chinese investment and technology since a military standoff along the disputed Himalayan border in 2020.

Following that clash, New Delhi imposed tighter investment rules on China‑based firms or entities with Chinese ownership, slowing capital inflows and technology partnerships. Heightened scrutiny contributed to delays or obstacles for several projects, including a proposed $1 billion electric car investment by automaker BYD, and more generally affected the movement of capital, technology and talent between the two countries.

The current evaluation of an Alipay+ link is taking place against that backdrop. Officials are weighing the benefits of lower‑cost payments for Indian users abroad against the need to protect domestic payment rails and data. No timeline has been given for a decision, and it remains unclear what specific safeguards or conditions might be required if the arrangement proceeds.

Warming ties provide context for payments talks

The prospective UPI–Alipay+ integration coincides with a cautious thaw in India‑China relations after several years of tension. In response to what Indian officials saw as aggressive Chinese posturing and amid wider U.S.‑China trade frictions, India had moved to restrict Chinese investment and tightened oversight of technology partnerships from 2020 onward. These measures remained in force even as bilateral economic links persisted.

In the past year, however, there have been signs of renewed engagement. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to China for the first time in seven years and met President Xi Jinping to discuss ways to improve ties, according to the Reuters account. India also resumed direct commercial flights to China last October after a five‑year suspension and eased visa rules for Chinese professionals, steps that suggest a willingness to rebuild selected economic and people‑to‑people connections.

Within this broader reset, payments connectivity is emerging as a practical area of cooperation. For India, linking UPI to widely used international wallets and merchant networks such as Alipay+ supports its goal of turning a domestic instant‑payments success story into a cross‑border tool, while still retaining control over how and where its systems interact with Chinese‑linked platforms.