India proposes new BRICS strategy to reduce dollar dependence

Source: RT en Español | Original Published At: 2026-09-10 12:01:25 UTC

Key Points

• Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi plans to promote wider use of central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, among BRICS members for cross-border payments.
• India's position marks a shift from earlier discussion of a common BRICS currency and reflects reluctance to create a unified payment system perceived as a competitor to SWIFT.
• India proposes interconnecting member CBDCs to reduce reliance on banks and lower transaction costs, while supporting the use of national currencies in trade.
• Trade in national currencies has increased within BRICS, particularly since Western sanctions on Russia, with 96% of Russia-India trade reportedly conducted through rupee-ruble mechanisms.
• Russian officials say 90% of Russia's transactions with BRICS countries are now conducted in national currencies.
• BRICS members are also considering interconnecting instant mobile payment systems for small retail transactions.
• Nine BRICS members already have CBDCs: Brazil, India, Indonesia, Iran, China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and South Africa.