Trinidad and Tobago have agreed with the Indian government to collaborate on the India Stack, a collection of open application programming interfaces (APIs) and digital public goods. The agreement, signed in the presence of officials from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the National E-Governance Division, and the Ministry of External Affairs, aims to promote digital transformation in Trinidad and Tobago.

Under the agreement, the two nations will cooperate on various initiatives, including capacity development, training programs, best practices exchange, and pilot or demo solutions development. This collaboration will enable Trinidad and Tobago to rapidly advance their digitalization efforts and transform their economies and governance. Minister of State for Electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, expressed optimism about the collaboration, saying it will create a robust ecosystem of startups, developers, and system integrators driving next-generation innovation, including enhancing inclusive finance.

Why does it matter?

India has signed similar pacts with other countries such as Armenia, Sierra Leone, Suriname, and Antigua and Barbuda to share India Stack. Furthermore, Mauritius and Saudi Arabia are in the advanced stages of finalizing cooperation, while a similar agreement was recently signed with Papua New Guinea. The Unified Payments Interface (UPI), part of India Stack, has also gained acceptance in countries like France, UAE, Singapore, and Sri Lanka. The acceptance of the Unified Payments Interface globally demonstrates the potential impact of India Stack.