India urges BRICS to connect CBDCs at 2026 summit to ease trade and curb U.S. dollar use

On January 19 2026, the Reserve Bank of India proposed that BRICS members link their central bank digital currencies to streamline cross-border trade and tourism payments. The plan would allow the bloc’s economies, including newer members such as the UAE, Iran and Indonesia, to settle transactions directly instead of relying on the U.S. dollar and systems like SWIFT. The RBI is also examining bilateral FX swaps to manage trade imbalances and is promoting the e-rupee over dollar-pegged stablecoins to safeguard domestic monetary stability.