The first International Postal Congress, which met in Berne in October 1874, made for the formal establishment of the General Postal Union. The second Congress, held in Paris in 1878, changed its name to Union Postal Universelle (UPU), or Universal Postal Union.

Postal relations between different States had hitherto been regulated by numerous bilateral agreements and there was no uniformity maintained. The UPU was established to secure improvement in postal services, and to promote the development of international collaboration in this sphere. To this end, the members of the UPO form a single postal territory for the reciprocal exchange of correspondence. Letters bearing the postage stamps of any of the member countries are carried by all other members free of charge.

The UPU regulates the letter-mail services, fixes the basic charges, weight limits and dimensions for articles of correspondence, and also acts as a clearing house for the settlement of accounts relating to international postal service. According to the rules of the UPO, every member country has to provide the other member countries, as also the UPU Headquarters at Berne (Switzerland), with sets of all postage stamps issued by it.

In commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of the UPU, along with other member countries, India brought out a set of four stamps featuring the Globe, the outline of an envelope and the Asokan Lion Capital. These stamps were printed by off-set lithography.

9p. green (W3, 1.1 mill., 128 nos.)
2a. rose (W3, 1.6 mill., 128 nos.)
3 1/2a. bright blue (W3, 0.8 mill., 128 nos.)
12a. brown-purple (W3, 0.8 mill., 128 nos.)