US suffers from dollar phobia, not Brics: South Africa envoy Anil Sooklal

Brics is not trying to create a common currency; instead, the grouping wants to make it easier for members to trade in their own currencies and develop alternative payment systems that reduce dependence on the US dollar, according to South Africa's high commissioner to India, Anil Sooklal.Sooklal told Mint the push is not about challenging the dollar for its own sake. Rather, it reflects growing unease among emerging economies about the way the US uses tariffs, sanctions and its dominance of the global financial system.

"It is not Brics that suffers from dollar phobia. It's the US that suffers from dollar phobia," he said.His comments come after the Brics summit in New Delhi, where the bloc's 11 members managed to agree on a joint declaration despite differences over conflicts, trade and other geopolitical issues. Sooklal said that the outcome was the result of months of Indian diplomacy and engagement with member countries before leaders gathered for the summit.Dismissing talk of a shared Brics currency, he said the bloc is focused on practical steps such as increasing local-currency trade and building alternative payment mechanisms.

Those efforts, he added, reflect how many developing countries are adapting to what they see as a more fragmented and uncertain global order.Sooklal, who served as South Africa’s BRICS sherpa in 2023, added that the manner in which the US has weaponised trade causes more harm to countries than bombing them.He said that the New Delhi Declaration reflected months of quiet Indian diplomacy rather than a last-minute compromise at the summit table.

He contrasted Brics’s outcome with the G20, saying no declaration should be expected from the grouping this year.India's diplomacy helped deliver consensusThe G20 is an intergovernmental forum comprising 19 sovereign countries, the European Union, and the African Union. The US will host the 2026 G20 Leaders’ Summit on 14-15 December, with discussions expected to focus on economic prosperity, energy security, technological innovation, and resilient supply chains.Sooklal said African members Ethiopia, Egypt and South Africa also played a role in building consensus, particularly in engaging Iran."If you follow the Brics, most of the time the 'mainstream press' is very dismissive of the Brics until the Brics meets.

Then they get a bit worked up about it," said S. Jaishankar, minister of external affairs, at the session on Ruptures & Ramparts: Building Bridges for a Changing World, organized on the margins of the 81st session of the UN General Assembly by the Observer Research Foundation, Reliance Foundation, UN in India and the Permanent Mission of India to the UN.“We are saying let’s consolidate trading local currencies, deepen that, let’s create our own payment platform and instruments, which has been under discussion since 2023,” Sooklal said.He viewed Brics’s growing cohesion as a response to what he sees as the collapse of the post-war rules-based order.

Under President Donald Trump, the US has reworked its global trade ties, shifting from traditional multilateral free-trade frameworks towards a tariff-driven, bilateral approach.“The manner in which the US has weaponised trade causes more harm to countries than someone coming and bombing us for a few days and going; we can rebuild,” he said.“What I say is the rules-based order as we know it is over.

And we are living in a world of disorder at the moment. Because when one country can send in troops into another country and take the president out, what rules are we talking about?” Sooklal said.Modi's ties helped bridge divisionsCommerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal at the Brics Business Forum last month called on member and partner countries to build on India’s digital public infrastructure, particularly the unified payment interface (UPI), and “trade in each other's local currencies, make digital trade global, and build together for the future of emerging economies.”“I think the chair is always so critical to any declaration.

They put so much pressure on the chair. So as a chair, you had to be very creative,” he said. Sooklal said that the unanimous adoption of the declaration was the clearest evidence of India’s chairship, adding that the outcome was the result of sustained engagement by New Delhi with key Brics capitals in the run-up to the summit.He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s relationships with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, as well as India’s ties with Iran and the UAE, for helping bridge differences within the grouping.“What played a major role is your prime minister and the excellent relations he has with Putin, the mellowing of ties with Xi,” Sooklal said.Sooklal argued that the summit’s ability to bring together leaders facing international isolation or political hostility made it significant for the Global South.

“And I think India was the perfect place for this to happen. I think this must have been the most difficult Brics summit. For me, I think that’s why I said that this was New Delhi’s moment and a very powerful moment for the Global South to come out with a successful summit,” he said.