The Hindustan Times on 4th May reported that a team of senior defence officials led by the Defence Secretary has been in Russia and one of the issues discussed was the payment channel. India may use a mix of Euros and a Rupee-Rouble transfer to pay for new defence platforms it is buying (or which it has recently bought) from Russia. Over next few years, India will have to pay approximately $7 billion to Russia for weapon systems. Payment in Euros to Russia isn’t entirely risk-free because it will have to be made through the SWIFT system and attract sanctions.
