New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- The international monetary system is not moving suddenly away from the US dollar. Yet beneath the apparent stability of the dollar's global role, an important change is taking place. Countries are increasingly exploring alternative arrangements for cross-border payments, local-currency settlement and regional financial connectivity. The BRICS Cross-Border Payments Initiative, China's growing use of the renminbi in trade, and India's internationalisation of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) are all part of this wider development.

It would be misleading to describe this simply as "de-dollarisation". A more useful description is financial diversification or de-concentration. Countries are seeking additional currenci...