Estonia ready to assist India in development of single multipurpose identity card: Ambassador

Estonia is willing to assist India in the development of a single multipurpose identity card in view of the country's experience in the domain of e-governance, country's new Ambassador to New Delhi Katrin Kivi said on Thursday.

New Delhi [India], Sept 26 : Estonia is willing to assist India in the development of a single multipurpose identity card in view of the country's experience in the domain of e-governance, country's new Ambassador to New Delhi Katrin Kivi said on Thursday.

"I am very happy to hear that the Indian government is planning to make all utilities in just one (card)," Kivi told . "We are happy to share our experience (in the e-governance domain) with the Indian government."

"In Estonia, we have just one card for multiple services like passport, transport, e-health, e-tax, e-governance, digital ID, I-voting, and e-residency," she added.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday had pitched for the idea of a single, multipurpose identity card for citizens covering "all utilities" from Aadhaar to banking and voting.

"We can have just one card for all utilities like Aadhaar, passport, bank account, driving licence, voter card," said Shah at an event of the Registrar General of India.

The Ambassador's comments came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a bilateral with Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, where the two discussed ways to deepen cooperation in the domain of e-governance, cybersecurity, and innovation.

"(During the discussions,) Prime Minister Modi was very interested to know more about the experience of Estonia in advancing e-governance and digitalising the whole society," she added.

Modi's meeting with Kaljulaid had come on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York. During the talks, Modi had extended his gratitude to Estonia for its support to India's candidature for UNSC non-permanent seat for 2021-2022.

( With inputs from ANI )