According to President of the BRICS International Forum Purnima Anand, Russia and India do not need dollars to pay each other.
Purnima Anand said that the countries established a new payment system, which includes payments only in rubles and rupees. Notably, Russia and China are also developing the same scheme of payments to use only yuan and rubles instead of dollars.Such a payment method allows Russia to evade sanctions imposed by the EU and the US.Purnima Anand pinpointed that Russia has established good relations with India. In the last 40 years, the trade volume has increased fivefold. India has increased oil imports from Russia, whereas Russia has increased purchases of agricultural products, textiles, and medicines.Meanwhile, India has been resisting Western pressure to ban Russian oil.Earlier this summer, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa were developing a new reserve currency. At the same time, these five countries are trying to create an alternative mechanism for international payments.
BRICS may also expand its membership: Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia are considering joining the group.According to the Deccan Herald, this summer, India, and Russia have discussed the possibility of adopting local payment systems RuPay and Mir.Analysts consider this new proposal of the BRICS reserve currency as an alternative to the US dollar and as the currency of the International Monetary Fund with special drawing rights.Russia's de-dollarization efforts will hardly surprise anyone. However, they have become harder after the West imposed sanctions against Moscow.