India (of BRICs Alliance) Dropping Dollar to Step Up Trade With Russia
28 Mar, 2022 08:03HomeBusiness News
India ready to bypass dollar in trade with Russia
A mechanism allowing the switch to domestic currencies is expected to be operational this week
© Getty Images / MicroStockHub
A system allowing direct rupee-ruble payments in trade between Russia and India could be launched this week, the president of the Federation of Indian Export Organizations (FIEO), A Sakthivel, told CNBC on Wednesday. The arrangement would allow India and Russia to carry out financial operations bypassing the US dollar. Russia is effectively blocked from using US currency due to Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.
According to the official, the Indian government is working on a proposal to allow up to five nationalized Indian banks to be engaged in the rupee-ruble trade mechanism, and discussions between the central bank governor, the finance minister, and the banks on the matter have already been held. The arrangement would let Indian exporters continue doing business with Russia despite sanctions banning, among other things, international payment mechanisms in the country, such as SWIFT. It would also let India continue buying Russian energy exports and other goods.
According to Sakthivel, the Indian economy could profit from sanctions Russia is facing, as they give Indian exporters an opportunity to expand on the Russian market.READ MORE: US urges India to think twice before buying Russian oil
“Export to Russia is not much, only in agriculture and pharmacy products. Now that the whole of the West is banning Russia, there will be a lot of opportunities for Indian firms to enter Russia,” he stated.
India’s finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India have not yet commented on the new trade arrangement.
Unlike the US and the EU, India has not criticized Russia over its military operation in Ukraine, and has abstained from condemning Moscow during the recent UN voting rounds. When asked whether India’s continued commerce with Russia would draw Western ire, Sakthivel said his country had taken a “neutral stand” on the situation in Ukraine.
“The government will take into account all the factors. The government is playing it very carefully,” he stressed.
India exported $3.3 billion worth of goods to Russia in 2021, mostly pharmaceutical products, tea, and coffee. In terms of imports, India bought $6.9 billion worth of Russian products, including arms and defense goods, mineral resources, fertilizers, metals, diamonds and other precious stones. India also imports Russian oil, with recent media reports stating that the country’s major refiner, Indian Oil Corp, has stepped up purchases of Russian crude over the past month. India is also reportedly considering buying raw materials from Russia and Belarus for fertilizer production amid skyrocketing commodities’ prices.
For more stories on economy & finance visit RT’s business section
United States Needs to Join the BRICs!
WHY THE UNITED STATES MUST JOIN THE BRICS
A NEW INTERNATIONAL ORDER FOR MANKIND
a LaRouchePAC digital report
Add your name to the list of prominent signers who are calling for the U.S. to Join the BRICS
This report serves as an outline for what is, perhaps, the best opportunity the United States has been given in decades to regain its founding identity, by joining the new international order being created at this moment by a group of leading nations to move civilization forward into a new paradigm for mankind. The planet is truly at an existential crossroads, and without a dramatic change of policy from within the United States, away from the last fourteen years of the Bush/Obama presidencies typified by Wall Street bailouts and interventionist, Cold War-style warfare, the world could very well erupt into a Third World War.
Outlined here is a mapping of the new paradigm emerging around the BRICS nations (Brazil, Russia, China, India and South Africa), how the United States can join this revolutionary new dynamic, the intellectual and political leadership provided by Lyndon and Helga LaRouche over the last forty years to make this vision a reality, and an epistomological overview of where mankind, as a species, is headed were this new paradigm to envelop the entire planet.
CONTENTS
Introduction: There Are Only Two Alternatives For MankindI. A New International Order Has EmergedII. The Imperial System Is Dead and Must Be EliminatedIII. Concrete Opportunities for the U.S. to Join the BRICSIV. A New System: Man’s Future as a Vernadskian SpeciesAppendix: LaRouche’s Role in Shaping Current History
DOWNLOAD PDF
You, the reader, have a responsibility to help bring the U.S. into this bright future. The first and easiest step, back us up: contribute to LaRouchePAC. Become a member, we are the force spearheading this fight in the United States today. Contribute $25, $50 or $100 today, work through this material, visit our events page to find an event near you, and come back regularly for updates on the BRICS and associated developments.INTRODUCTION:THERE ARE ONLY TWO ALTERNATIVES FOR MANKIND»
