Moscow and New Delhi want to have worked out a system that will act as an alternative to the western SWIFT payment system. This reports the Economic Times[.IndiaTimes].

As per the letter, Sberbank and its subsidiaries can interact and transact with any financial institutions except US and UK entities, and branches of foreign institutions "specifically located" within these two countries.

"Such sanctions imposed do not restrict in any type, account opening and account management and serving the clients from the Indian credit institutions," Moscow said in the letter, adding that the list of sanctions imposed by other states that apply to the Sberbank Group mirror those by the US, UK and EU.

A rupee-rouble trade mechanism could be established soon, said A Sakthivel, president of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO). According to Sakthivel, the Indian government is working on a proposal to allow four to five state-owned Indian banks to be engaged in such trade. There have been consultations among the central bank governor, the finance minister and banks in this regard, he said.

The system should be up and running within a week and will make bilateral trade much easier.
[...]
The new payment system is expected to be installed at both the headquarters of the Reserve Bank of India, which acts as India's central bank, and Vneshekonombank. It should be up and running within a week and be able to provide "seamless transfer of import or export documents for transactions in rupees and rubles".

According to the publication, officials from Russia's central bank will meet with their counterparts at India's central bank in early April to create a regulatory framework designed to support bilateral trade and banking operations despite global sanctions against Moscow.
[...]
At the beginning of March, the EU separated seven banks from the SWIFT system. Affected are VTB, Otkritije, Bank Rossiya, Novikombank, Promswjazbank, Sovkombank and the state-owned Vneshekonombank.

and expanded its ability to level penalties on the aerospace, marine, and electronics sectors.
[...]
Daniel Tannebaum, the global head of ["]sanctions at management["] consulting firm Oliver Wyman, said it's not immediately clear how hard the latest sanctions will hit Russian companies, but the impact won't be swift.