BRICS nations agreed on Saturday to expand trade and payments in their own currencies, a further move away from the US dollar adopted on the opening day of the summit in New Delhi.
The pledges formed part of the “New Delhi Declaration 2026”, which member states approved unanimously. Emerging from a closed session, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said no member had “objected” to the text, adding that BRICS was “not against anyone”.
The declaration reported that the bloc’s Payment Task Force had examined “cross-border interoperability of payment and messaging channels” and discussed using local currencies for “trade settlements and investments”. The task force was instructed to keep developing payment systems that are “fast, low cost, more accessible, efficient, transparent and safe”.
Leaders set clear limits on how far they would go. The text said there was “no one-size-fits-all approach” and that national priorities must be respected. It did not name US President Donald Trump or the United States, but criticised the kind of unilateral tariffs, sanctions and protectionist measures he has employed. Trump has threatened the bloc with 100 per cent tariffs if it “plays games with the dollar”.
The document voiced “serious concerns” over unilateral tariff and non-tariff measures it said distort trade and breach World Trade Organization rules. It condemned “unilateral coercive measures”, including economic and secondary sanctions, and opposed carbon border taxes as discriminatory.
Modi said it was now the members’ responsibility “to translate these commitments into tangible results”.