New Delhi, Oct. 20 -- 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 t...