India, Saudi Arabia Discuss Trading in Local Currencies as New Delhi Moves Away From US Dollar
20/09/2022
Saudi Arabia ranked as India’s fourth biggest trading partner in the previous financial year, as the bilateral trade exceeded $42 billion. Riyadh also re-emerged as New Delhi’s second biggest oil supplier last month, after its position was briefly challenged by Moscow which has ramped up its energy exports to India this year.
India and Saudi Arabia are negotiating the “feasibility” of carrying out bilateral trade in national currencies, a statement from the Indian Commerce Ministry said.
Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal concluded his two-day visit to Riyadh, where he co-chaired a ministerial meeting of the India-Saudi Arabia Strategic Partnership Council.
The meeting was headed by Saudi Arabian Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman Al-Saud.
The Indian statement said the two ministers also discussed the introduction of Indian online payment systems such as UPI (Unified Payments Interface) in the Saudi market. They also discussed working out a way to introduce the New Delhi-backed Rupay card, an alternative to Mastercard and Visa, in the Saudi market.
Goyal said that both the governments would also seek to remove other “trade barriers” in their commercial ties as well as diversify their trading relationship, which is currently dominated by Riyadh’s energy exports.
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