NEW DELHI, February 6. /TASS/. India and Russia should come up with a new interbank system to replace SWIFT, since the current restrictions on its use for Russian banks will not be lifted anytime soon, Russian Ambassador to New Delhi Denis Alipov said Monday, speaking at a conference focused on the strategic partnership between New Delhi and Moscow, which is timed to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the friendship treaty between the two superpowers.
"Certainly, you know, such established mechanisms like SWIFT are preferable... They're very simple, very easy. But if we want to continue our economic relations, our trade we obviously need to invent something new because I don't foresee that those restrictions with SWIFT for example, for us would be lifted in the near future," the diplomat maintained.
The West slapped sweeping sanctions on Russia in response to Moscow’s decision to launch its special operation in Ukraine. Major Russian banks were disconnected from the SWIFT interbank payment system, while MasterCard and Visa suspended their operations throughout the Russian Federation.
Some Western politicians have not denied that it is actually an economic war against Russia. As President Vladimir Putin stated on March 16, 2022, the US-led West’s sanctions against Moscow has every indication of aggression. He pointed out that the policy of containing Russia is the West’s long-term strategy.