September 11, 2025
NEW DELHI – Amid the ongoing tariff issue with the United States, India has once again sought to clarify that it is not part of any initiative that is working to replace the US dollar as the most-accepted currency for global trade.
Speaking at an event in New Delhi, India’s Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Wednesday emphatically stated on being asked if India is looking at an alternative currency to the US dollar: “No, certainly not. India is not part of any such initiative.”
US President Donald Trump has many times sought to allege that member countries of the BRICS grouping, of which India is a part, are working to replace the US dollar as a reserve currency.
He has been accusing the BRICS grouping of spearheading anti-America policies and working to set up an alternative currency.
Meanwhile, speaking on the US tariff issue and its potential impact, the CEA said India is in a better position to absorb global financial shocks due to the domestic reforms carried out in the country over the last decade or so.
“There is a possibility that our domestic reforms may have already provided a kind of cushion that India would need in the coming years and decades, given the challenging geopolitical environment that may stay with us for quite some time to come. I think we may have already built in a certain resilience to global factors, the structural reforms that have been undertaken and therefore we may be more positively surprised by growth outcomes than being negatively surprised by growth outcomes regardless of the time and the path it takes for the current tariff uncertainties to dissipate which I hope will dissipate sooner rather than later…,” Nageswaran said.
“The structural reforms of the last 10-11 years are beginning to deliver in terms of growth outcomes and employment outcomes as well. The other silver linings we have in the economy, not only the recent GST rate reductions and process reforms, including on registrations, dispute settlement, ease of compliance, come on top of the direct tax significant cuts which were announced in the February Budget, the Income Tax Bill simplification that got the assent of Parliament. We know that the journey ahead is still very long when it comes to these matters,” he added.