Amid Donald Trump’s 100 per cent tariff threat on countries that defy US interests and any move to bring out a new currency against the US dollar, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is of the suggestion that the country should pursue the linking of digital currencies of BRICS nations to ease trade and tourism payments, thereby reducing reliance on the US dollar.
According to a Reuters report, the RBI has recommended to the Union government that the proposal be included in the agenda for the BRICS summit scheduled to be held in India later this year, with two people familiar with the matter indicating that the central bank views the initiative as a practical step towards improving cross-border transactions among member countries.
The proposal has emerged at a time when geopolitical tensions are intensifying and an India–US trade agreement remains unresolved, circumstances that have added urgency to discussions on alternative payment mechanisms.
The report noted that Washington has consistently opposed initiatives aimed at weakening the dominance of the US dollar in global trade and payments, while US President Donald Trump has gone a step further by publicly warning BRICS nations — including Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — of 100 per cent tariffs should they attempt to create a currency that rivals the dollar.
Against this backdrop, the RBI’s recommendation has assumed added significance, even as Indian authorities maintain that the proposal is not designed as a de-dollarisation effort.
If the proposal is accepted and formally taken up at the summit, it would mark the first time that BRICS nations collectively discuss the technical and policy aspects of linking their central bank digital currencies, a development that could reshape how trade and tourism payments are settled within the bloc.
The central banks of India, China, Russia and South Africa did not comment on the report, reflecting the sensitivity of the issue amid wider global economic and political pressures.
The initiative builds on a declaration adopted at the 2025 BRICS summit in Brazil, where member countries agreed on the need to make cross-border payments faster, cheaper and more efficient, particularly for trade and travel-related transactions.
While the RBI has, on multiple occasions, expressed interest in exploring interoperability between India’s digital rupee and other countries’ CBDCs, it has also underlined that such efforts are aimed at efficiency gains rather than challenging the existing international monetary order.
All five founding BRICS members are currently running pilot projects for their respective digital currencies, with India’s e-rupee, launched in 2022, having reached around seven million retail users so far, according to Reuters.