 "Jaishankar responds to claims of Brics undermining US dollar amid Trump's 100% tariff threat")
Brics nations have no plans to weaken the US dollar, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said on Saturday (December 7).
“The idea that Brics is aiming to undermine the dollar is misplaced. Our focus remains on strengthening financial cooperation, not competition,” Jaishankar stated, underscoring India’s position on the ongoing debate surrounding a proposed Brics payment system.
Jaishankar’s comments, delivered during an event in Doha, comes days after US President-elect Donald Trump threatened 100 per cent tariffs on countries attempting to challenge the dollar’s dominance.
Trump’s threat
Trump, on his Truth Social platform last week, accused the Brics bloc— which includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa— of potentially supporting efforts to replace the US dollar.
“We require a commitment… that they will neither create a new BRICS currency nor back any other currency to replace the mighty US dollar,” Trump warned, threatening tariffs if countries did not comply.
At a recent Brics summit in Kazan, Russia proposed “BRICS Pay,” a payment system akin to SWIFT and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
The system aims to facilitate seamless cross-border payments in native currencies like the ruble, yuan, rupee, real, and rand. While China and Russia have shown strong interest, other members, including India, appear cautious.
Russia paints a different picture
The differences among the Brics countries over BRICS Pay is now more evident than ever.
Earlier this week, Russian officials, reacting to Trump’s virtual threats, had taken a stance that appeared somehwat different from India’s view expressed on Saturday.
Moscow signalled that Brics would press forward with its plans for a settlement system to facilitate non-dollar transactions. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said on Friday (December 6) that the group is working on this setup.
Impact Shorts
More Shorts“Of course, it will continue,” Pankin said, pointing out that the project focuses on practical solutions rather than an outright challenge to the dollar.
Prior to that, on December 2, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that there is echoing a growing trend among countries seeking alternatives to the dollar in trade.
“The dollar is beginning to lose its appeal as a reserve currency for a number of countries […] If the US uses force, as they say economic force, to compel countries to use the dollar it will further strengthen the trend of switching to national currencies (in international trade),” he said.
What’s behind the contrasting stances?
India’s assertion that it has no interest in undermining the dollar aligns with its strategic goal of maintaining its ties with the United States, a critical partner in countering China’s influence in the Indo-Pacific.
Jaishankar’s comments suggest a deliberate effort to distance India from any perceived confrontation with Washington.
Russia’s stance, on the other hand, reflects its strained relationship with the US and an eagerness to promote alternatives to the dollar amid ongoing sanctions.
With inputs from agencies
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