The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is pushing a plan to link central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) across BRICS nations to streamline cross-border trade and tourism while chipping away at the U.S. dollar’s dominance.
Sources told Reuters that the RBI urged the government to add the proposal to create an interconnected system of CBDCs to the agenda of the 2026 BRICS summit to be hosted by India later this year.
That would be the first such formal attempt to create a CBDC link among BRICS members: Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and newer compatriots like the UAE, Iran and Indonesia.
The move could spark tensions with Washington as it seeks to defend the U.S. dollar’s role as the global reserve currency. President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned the BRICS nations away from replacing the dollar, threatening to penalize such attempts with 100% tariffs.
While no BRICS member has fully rolled out its CBDC, all the core nations have been running pilot programs. India’s e-rupee, introduced in December 2022, has supposedly drawn 7 million retail users, with the central bank boosting adoption with offline payments, programmable subsidies and fintech wallets. China has vowed to expand the digital yuan globally and is said to allow commercial banks pay interest on digital yuan holdings.
The report of potential BRICS CBDC link comes on the heels of a U.S.-India trade stand-off, characterized by a decline in Indian shipment to the U.S. in the wake of Trump’s 50% tariffs on Indian imports, including 25% specifically for importing Russian crude oil.
Trade talks between the U.S. and India nearly wrapped up in the middle of last year, but fell apart after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi delayed a call with Trump, which was seen as a snub. They remain stalled, even after a planned Jan. 13 discussion went nowhere, hurting profits for Indian exporters in textiles, gems, and chemicals.