The Indian government will commence an extensive outreach to the business community in a bid to encourage them to begin trading in the Indian rupee (INR), Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra told a special press briefing in New Delhi on Monday.
“We are soon going to bring out a set of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), do an extensive outreach to the business community for them to see how the rupee trade arrangements could be leveraged. Naturally, it would be our interest to see that it could be expanded to as many countries as possible,” Kwatra remarked.
The press briefing was organized ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Johannesburg to attend the BRICS Summit on 22-24 August. From South Africa, Modi will pay an official visit to Greece on 25 August, which would be the first by an Indian Prime Minister since 1983.
The Indian Foreign Secretary underlined that rupee trade was one the “key instruments connecting the trade ecosystems” between India and other countries.
“It has been our strong and pro-active effort to see how instruments of trade expansion, how best we can position them in any given relationship,” Kwatra emphasized.
He noted that India’s rupee trading arrangement with other nations required “extensive due diligence” on account of “extensive regulatory arrangements” as well as elements involving “commercial banking channels”.
“But as a matter of priority, we will pursue them,” the Indian diplomat said.
Kwatra noted that India’s “initial shipment” relating to the rupee-dirham trade with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had been “successfully completed” last week.
Indian PM's Agenda at BRICS Summit
Spelling out Prime Minister Modi’s agenda at the BRICS Summit, Kwatra revealed that the Indian leader would be participating in the BRICS’ Leaders’ Retreat on Tuesday evening. He said that this would be a closed-door engagement.
Kwatra said that BRICS leaders would be discussing global developments of concern and the role that BRICS could play in addressing those challenges during their interaction on Tuesday.
He added that the main BRICS Summit would take place on Wednesday and was structured into a closed plenary and an open plenary.
Kwatra said that intra-BRICS cooperation, reform of multilateral system and counter-terrorism issues would be discussed during the closed plenary session.
Global economic recovery amid geopolitical challenges, the progress on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), women-led development and concerns of Global South nations would be discussed during the open plenary, Kwatra mentioned.
The Indian diplomat said that Modi would be attending the BRICS ‘Outreach’ to Africa and the BRICS Plus Dialogue during the final day of the BRICS Summit.