India is pressing BRICS members to link payment systems, expand local-currency trade and reduce barriers, while a BRICS Business Council executive said the bloc must first establish trust, data-security protections and common cross-border rules. Ziaad Suleiman, chair of the Digital Economy Working Group, South Africa Chapter, said a unified payment system is achievable but arrangements may need to reflect trade volumes and bilateral relationships rather than follow a single model. The initiative could reduce dependence on Western financial channels as sanctions and tariff threats increase, but the bloc’s limited intra-member trade highlights the challenge of turning its demographic and economic scale into practical integration. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said BRICS represents 50 percent of the world’s population, 40 percent of global GDP and more than a quarter of global trade. Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal urged members and partner countries to connect payment systems and settle trade in local currencies, citing India’s Unified Payments Interface as a model. Russia has backed the effort, saying the dollar and euro’s share of its export settlements fell from 85 percent three years ago to about 11 percent, while also proposing a BRICS grain exchange and special economic zones association. The agenda is gaining urgency from pressure on India-Russia energy trade, including a U.S. Senate measure that would allow tariffs of up to 100 percent on countries continuing significant Russian oil and gas purchases.