Under Trump’s shadow, Brics takes step towards de-dollarisation

Brics countries agreed on Saturday to expand trade and payments in local currencies, making another step towards de-dollarisation as the bloc seeks to counter an assertive United States.Facing pressure from Washington, the member nations found enough common ground to overcome some of their biggest diplomatic splits.The pledges were part of the “New Delhi Declaration 2026”, adopted unanimously on the opening day of the 18th Brics summit.After a closed session, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi emerged to say that no member had “objected” to the text.The 45-page declaration said the group’s Payment Task Force had studied “cross-border interoperability of payment and messaging channels” and held talks on using local currencies for “trade settlements and investments”.The task force was told to keep working on payments that were “fast, low cost, more accessible, efficient, transparent and safe”.