New Delhi, Oct. 2 -- The BRICS Payment Task Force will continue work on payment interoperability and local-currency settlements, BRICS International Forum Chairman Dr Pawan Josh said, stressing that the initiative aims to ease cross-border transactions, not replace existing global financial systems.

"Everybody agreed to keep the BRICS Payment Task Force and continue studying interoperability between payment and messaging networks plus local-currency settlement," Josh told ANI.

He said the India-Russia initiative to link UPI with Russia's Faster Payments System is a key step. The first pilot will focus on consumer-to-business payments, allowing an Indian traveller to pay in Russia through UPI and a Russian traveller to pay in India throu...