India pushes Brics to open markets, trade in local currencies

India has called on Brics countries to expand trade settlement in their local currencies and link their payment systems, even as New Delhi remains opposed to the creation of a common currency for the grouping.

Commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal on Friday urged Brics member and partner countries to build on India’s digital public infrastructure, particularly the unified payment interface (UPI), and “trade in each other's local currencies, make digital trade global, and build together for the future of emerging economies”.

“Today, it (UPI) is also accepted in 11 countries,” Goyal said at the opening session of the Brics Business Forum in the national capital. UPI, he said, accounts for over 250 billion transactions a year and more than half of transactions by volume globally.

India is hosting the Brics Business Forum and the leaders' summit from 11–13 September.

Goyal’s call comes as Brics continues work on cross-border payment interoperability and local-currency settlement. At the 2025 summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brics leaders tasked their finance chiefs with continuing discussions on the Brics Cross-Border Payments Initiative.

On Friday, the bloc’s finance ministers and central bank governors in a joint statement said, “(We) acknowledge the work done to study the cross-border interoperability of payment and messaging channels, and the discussions on promoting trade settlements and investments using BRICS local currencies, while respecting national priorities and acknowledging that there is no one-size-fits-all approach.”

India, however, is not in favour of a unified Brics currency.

According to a Reuters report, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar at a Doha event in December 2024 had said that Brics countries had no interest in weakening the US dollar. His remarks followed then US President-elect Donald Trump’s demand that Brics members pledge not to create a new currency or support another currency that would replace the dollar, or face 100% tariffs on their exports to the US.

Opening markets

Goyal also called on Brics members to open their markets further to each other’s products, including raw materials and critical minerals, and to skilled professionals, while pushing for freer intra-bloc trade.

He said supply chains will be resilient only when they run both ways, without non-tariff measures imposing higher costs or access issues blocking opportunities.

The 11-member grouping accounts for 40% of the world’s gross domestic product and almost a quarter of global exports, Goyal said.

Brics, originally comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, expanded in 2024 to include Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, with Indonesia joining in 2025.

In 2025, the bloc accounted for 21.6% of world exports and 17.3% of imports, while intra-bloc trade represented only 4-5% of world trade, according to an estimate by research firm Global Trade Research Initiative. Brics accounts for 42% of India’s imports but only 22% of its exports, reflecting its large trade deficit with China, the report said.

Business cooperation

Jaishankar called for energy systems that can withstand disruptions and for transition plans that reflect different national circumstances. He said the forum’s most useful contribution would be to bring a clear business perspective to the next phase of Brics cooperation. “We are building tomorrow, today--from green energy to high-speed metro networks,” he said.

The summit comes as the global political and economic order faces churn, with volatility, uncertainty, and complexity becoming its defining features, Jaishankar said.

“We are witnessing the economic consequences of geopolitical conflicts, of pandemics, and of climate-related disruptions,” he said. At the same time, technological advances are opening new possibilities for growth, productivity, and development.

“The result is an economic landscape where both risks and opportunities are becoming more widely distributed, and where the ability to anticipate, adapt, and respond is acquiring greater importance. Resilience, therefore, has become the Forum's agenda, supply chain connectivity and trade facilitation have emerged as crucial,” he said.

Russia for resilient supply chains

Maxim Reshetnikov, Russia’s minister for economic development, affirmed Russia’s support for “concrete steps to foster resilient supply chains, to accelerate green and digital transition” and called on foreign businesses to set up units in his country.

He also said Russia is in active negotiations with India and several other countries for trade deals. Russia signed a free trade agreement with Iran last year, while a pact with the United Arab Emirates is expected to take effect in October and another agreement with Indonesia early next year, Reshetnikov said.

“Today, we are the economy of the opportunities. The GDP of Russia increased by 10% in real terms over the last three years,” Reshetnikov said. “Despite external pressure, our economy remains market-oriented. Our focus today is on structural transformation.”

The dollar and euro together accounted for 85% of settlements for Russian exports three years ago, but their combined share has now fallen to 11%, he said. “An alternative international financial system became our key leverage.”