BRICS: India and Russia Agree to Ditch US Dollar

BRICS members India and Russia are forging new partnerships by putting their national payment systems at work to sideline the US dollar. India’s payment system RuPay and Russia’s MIR systems could soon be jointly integrated for seamless cross-border transactions between the two nations.

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Russia welcomed India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Moscow and the meeting forged new alliances and trade decisions. During the meeting, India confirmed that it is open to trade with its BRICS counterpart Russia using the RuPay and MIR payment systems. If BRICS countries begin using their national payment mechanisms for trade, the US dollar will be sidelined for all transactions.

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The move will benefit India and Russia as their local currencies will be used and can save millions in exchange rates. The dependency on the US dollar will reduce strengthening their local currencies and native economies. BRICS is finding several ways to advance the de-dollarization agenda where the US dollar takes the back seat. Read here to know how many sectors in the US will be affected if BRICS ditches the dollar for trade.

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BRICS: India and Russia Look To Use National Payment Systems, US Dollar Will Play No Role

Source: Alexandr Demyanchuk / Sputnik / AFP via Getty Images
Andrey Kostin, the CEO of Russia’s VTB Bank confirmed the development during a press conference on Wednesday. “We (BRICS) must develop our own settlement system that includes the global south enabling us to conduct transactions in our own national currencies” and not the US dollar, said Kostin.

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“India has a positive attitude towards working with Russia,” he said. The CEO explained that the RuPay and MIR payment systems could soon be integrated for trade settlements. “We will make some progress given the complexities that exist,” he said. Kostin summed it up by saying that BRICS wants to be free from the US dollar, Euro, and Western currencies.