As the Ukraine-Russia conflict continues, Moscow has been inundated with sanctions and restrictions. Against this backdrop, President Vladimir Putin announced a new foreign policy this week, identifying China and India as its main allies on the global stage. Now, the relationship between these three nations (and a few others) seems poised to take a step further with the creation of a new currency.
According to Russian lawmaker Alexander Babakov, who was quoted in several reports, the BRICS nations are currently developing a new payment medium that is “not dependent on the dollar or euro.” He suggested that the new currency would be backed by gold and other commodities, such as rare-earth elements.
While this claim has yet to be confirmed by other officials from the member nations, it emerged just days before South Africa sent senior officials to Russia to discuss the “recalibration of the global order” with President Vladimir Putin’s party. The country is also scheduled to host a BRICS summit in August of this year.
Earlier on Friday, President Putin adopted a new foreign policy that put India and China at the forefront. The announcement also came mere days after Chinese premier Xi Jinping visited Moscow to further cement the “no limits” partnership announced last year.
“Russia will continue to build up a particularly privileged strategic partnership with the Republic of India with a view to enhance and expand cooperation in all areas on a mutually beneficial basis and place special emphasis on increasing the volume of bilateral trade, strengthening investment and technological ties, and ensuring their resistance to destructive actions of unfriendly states and their alliances,” the statement said.
It also announced its intention to prioritise and enhance its capacity and international role in groupings such as BRICS ‘to help adapt the world order to the realities of a multipolar world’.
