Now think this out... If China wants to replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency (NEVER HAPPEN), and kicking Russia off SWIFT is supposed to make the dollar not be the world’s reserve currency, why would China be taking this position?
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, India had entered into a rupee-rouble trade arrangement with Russia to ensure that defence and other imports could continue. In 2018, a pilot project was run where Indian importers paid in roubles for diamond imports. These payments were made to the Indian branch of Russia’s Sberbank. SBI and Canara Bank have a joint venture (The Commercial Indo Bank), which might be able to help Indians there.
What will be the long-term implications of the ban?
The impact on Russia will depend more on the geopolitical situation. However, the second-order impact would be the development of alternate networks. The decision to restrict Mastercard and Visa to stop processing Russian payments in 2014 led to the creation of regional card networks. The same may happen now with cross-border. Before the pandemic, India, Russia and China were planning an alternative to the SWIFT, using the BRICS platform to launch it. Such initiatives may gain steam.