Global tech diplomacy: 25 countries run pilot programs on India’s DPI framework

India’s open-source tech footprint is expanding rapidly, with 25 nations currently running pilot programs to adopt variants of the country’s Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) framework. The global rollout signals a strategic victory for India’s technology diplomacy, following commitments established during its G20 Presidency.

According to senior MEA officials, the rapid uptake highlights a global demand for population-scale, inclusive architecture. Rather than exporting rigid, proprietary products, India is sharing modular, interoperable blueprints—popularly known as the “India Stack”—to let partner nations build localized systems.

Expanding global footprint
Early pilot frameworks and interoperability agreements are gaining traction across diverse economies:

• France Connect and Singapore’s SingPass are coordinating frameworks for secure digital identity management.
• Oman’s National Payments Systems and the Australian Government’s Digital ID System (AGDIS) are exploring linkages with India’s public rails.
• Several nations in the Global South are evaluating the Modular Open Source Identity Platform (MOSIP) alongside digital financial inclusion models.

The New, Emerging and Strategic Technologies (NEST) division of the MEA is serving as the nodal entity to manage international agreements, legal frameworks, and tech diplomacy. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeitY) is coordinating technical parameters through Indian diplomatic missions abroad.

Delivering governance at population scale
The foundational pillars under review mimic India’s own digital ecosystem, which heavily relies on the JAM (Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity. By opening up public application programming interfaces (APIs), the framework bridges critical public-sector needs with private sector innovation.

Boosting the global south
India’s strategy marks a major shift from traditional big-tech monopolies. By leveraging open standards and open-source software, partner nations avoid vendor lock-in while cutting down execution costs.

Moving forward, the Indian government plans to accelerate technology transfers, provide customized institutional training through capacity-building channels, and help emerging economies build robust sovereign digital networks.
CT Bureau