INDIAN EXPRESS DATED 12th SEP 2026

Summary of Important News Items Editorials-459

INDIAN EXPRESS DATED 12th SEP 2026.

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1. BRICS Pushes Cross-Border Payments and Local-Currency Trade

Ahead of the BRICS Leaders’ Summit, member countries called for pragmatic, efficient and low-cost cross-border payment mechanisms, while Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal urged members to link national payment systems and expand trade in local currencies. India highlighted the potential of UPI, while BRICS finance ministers and central-bank governors supported interoperability among payment and messaging systems and further work by the BRICS Payment Task Force. RBI Governor Sanjay Malhotra had also indicated discussions on linking fast-payment systems and central-bank digital currencies. Importantly, the bloc maintains that this effort is not intended to replace the US dollar with a BRICS currency, but to increase transaction efficiency and reduce costs. The logic is economic diversification rather than abrupt de-dollarisation. The gist is that India supports a plural international payments architecture in which domestic digital infrastructure such as UPI can acquire global reach while countries retain monetary sovereignty and avoid creating a politically difficult common BRICS currency.

2. Modi–Putin Talks: Energy Security, Maritime Safety and $100-Billion Trade Target