NEW DELHI, August 12. /TASS/. The BRICS member states are no longer attaching much importance to the dollar and successfully using national currencies, Vice Chairman of BRICS Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Sameep Shastri, told TASS.

"I think we are going to see de-dollarization soon. We have already started our trade using rubles and rupee and yuan and rupee, our own currencies, and we do not attach much value to dollar anymore. And I think that is important for each and every country that we should not be dependent on one single currency. We should be dependent on our own currency, and we should make it strong and make our economy strong," he said.

The expert also underscored that he completely disagrees with the assertions that Western countries are the strongest economies in the world. According to him, the economic power is shifting from the West to the Global South.

"If you just look at Russia, India and China - we are very strong three nations among the growing economies. India has become the fifth largest economy, so we are proving to the world that self-reliance is very important now," he said.

"If you look at the sanctions [you will see that] within two years, Russia has become the best example of self-reliance. Everything Russian-made is available. And there's a continuous growth of 2% in the Russian economy itself. So geographically, if you look at the BRICS nations, we are very apart, but despite that we have a very strategic and sustainable growth. This should be taken into consideration," he concluded.

The BRICS association was created in 2006 by Brazil, Russia, India and China, with South Africa joining in 2011. On January 1, 2024, Egypt, Iran, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Ethiopia became full members of the group. Russia is chairing the association this year. The main event of 2024 for BRICS will be the summit, which will be held in Kazan in October.