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www.newsindiatimes.com – that’s all you need to know News India Times (August 23, 2025 - August 29, 2025) August 29, 2025 18 India India, Russia Agree To Boost Trade Ties After Foreign Ministers Meet In Moscow I ndia and Russia agreed to boost trade ties on Thurs- day, August 21, 2025, as their foreign ministers met in Moscow, giving little indication that U.S. President Donald Trump’s hefty tariffs on India for buying Rus- sian oil would disrupt their relations. Indian goods face additional U.S. tariffs of up to 50%, among the highest imposed byWashington, due to New Delhi’s increased purchases of Russian oil. Western countries boycotting Russian crude say India’s purchases are helping to fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine. But New Delhi says its purchases are purely commercial transactions, and accuses the U.S. and European Union of double standards, noting that they continue significant trade with Moscow themselves. “We have good results in cooperation in the hydrocar- bon sector, in the supply of Russian oil to the Indian mar- ket. And we have a mutual interest in implementing joint projects for the extraction of energy resources, including in the Russian Federation – in the Far East and on the Arctic shelf,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a joint news conference with Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. Jaishankar said that relations between the two coun- tries had been among the steadiest of major nations in the world sinceWorldWar Two, referring to a close friend- ship going back to the days of the Soviet Union. The two countries reaffirmed their ambition to expand bilateral trade, including by increasing India’s exports to Russia, Jaishankar said, according to a statement from India’s foreign ministry. “This (trade expansion) requires swiftly address- ing non-tariff barriers and regulatory impediments,” Jaishankar said. “Enhancing Indian exports to Russia in sectors like pharmaceuticals, agriculture and textiles will certainly help to correct the current imbalance.” Russia was able to divert its exports of oil, a significant source of state revenue, away from Europe and mainly to China and India after theWest imposed sanctions on Moscow over its conflict in Ukraine. India and China are the biggest buyers of Russia’s oil. Russian embassy officials in New Delhi said on Wednesday that Russia expected to continue supply- ing oil to India despite pressure from the United States, adding that Moscow hoped trilateral talks with India and China would soon take place. -Reuters India Slams Pakistan With Hypocrisy On Gender Based Crimes -UNITED NATIONS I ndia criticized Pakistan for duplic- ity and hypocrisy in regard to gender based violence at the United Nations Open Debate held August 19, 2025 on “Innovative Strategies to Ensure Access to Life-Saving Services and Protection for Survivors of Sexual Violence in Conflict Zones”. Mentioning the historical 1971 heinous sexual crimes recorded against women in the then East Pakistan, India pointed out that such crimes continue even today in Pakistan. “Rampant abduction, trafficking, child early and forced marriages and domes- tic servitude, sexual violence and forced religious conversions of thousands of vulnerable women and girls as weapons of persecution towards religious and ethnic minority communities are reported and chronicled including in the recent OHCHR reports,” pointed out Charge d’ Affaires, Eldos Punnoose, delivering India:s statement. Convened by Panama who has the Presidency of the Security Council for the month of August, the debate sought to identify innovative strategies to make life- saving services and protection available to survivors of sexual violence in conflict zones. A discussion on the Secretary General:s report on conflict related sexual violence was part of the debate. Also discussed was the role of the UN in addressing this issue, particularly that of the Team of Experts on the Rule of Law and Sexual Violence in Conflict which was created by the Security Council in 2009 through Resolution 1888. The debate was attended by represen- tatives of organizations and UN Member States including the European Union, Ireland, Australia, Estonia and India who all delivered statements. Participants also included Special Representative of the Secretary General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Pramila Patten, and Sudanese women’s rights leader, Ikhlass Ahmed. Speaking of measures India is taking to deal with sexual violence, Punnoose mentioned India’s Prime Minister Modi’s membership to the Circle of Leadership on prevention of such crimes and a volun- tary agreement India has entered into. “Our dedication to the cause can be seen from the fact that in Nov 2017, a vol- untary compact was reached between UN Secretary-General and the Government of India on commitment to eliminate sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping, humanitarian and development work,” Punnoose said. Punnoose then listed steps taken by India for women’s safety, making special mention of establishing of the $1.2 billion Nirbhaya Fund for women’s safety and implementation of related legislation. Other concrete steps include establish- ing new response systems including a pan India Emergency Response Support System by calling 112; Sakhi One Stop Centers for police assistance, medical care, shelter and legal aid; and Fast Track Special Courts dedicated to women’s safety, Punnoose said. Speaking about India:s willingness to share its expertise and experience with other Member States, Punnoose referred to the introduction of specialized courses addressing sexual and gender based vio- lence in armed conflict at the Center for United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in Delhi. Punnoose also drew attention to India’s being first to deploy in 2007 all women Formed Police Unit to the UN Mission in Liberia, and its recent deployment of Women’s teams to MONUSCO in Congo, to UNISFA in Abyei and to UNMISS in South Sudan. Stressing the need to adopt a survivor- centric approach which would include prosecuting and deterring such crimes in conflict situations and ensuring no impu- nity for perpetrators, India reaffirmed its commitment to root out sexual violence in armed conflict and support and assist survivors of such heinous crimes. By Archana Adalja PHOTO:Alexander Zemlianichenko/Poolvia REUTERS PHOTO:UN PHOTO Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov shakes hands with India’s Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar during a joint press conference following their talks at Zinaida Morozova’s Mansion in Moscow, Russia August 21, 2025. Mauritian barrister Pramila Patten, the Secretary General’s Special Representative dealing with issues of sexual violence in conflict (left) and Eldose Punnoose, the charge d’affaires of India’s Permanent Mission to the UN (right) addressing the Security Council on Tuesday, August 19, 2025.