NEW DELHI: Indian boxer Vijender Singh has offered to return the championship belt he won in this weekend’s title fight over his Chinese rival in a nod to diplomacy amid a tense border standoff between New Delhi and Beijing.
The Olympic-bronze medallist extended the olive branch to Zulpikar Maimaitiali after defeating the Chinese champ in the much-anticipated double-title pro bout in Mumbai on Saturday.
The win saw the 31-year-old Indian pugilist retain not just his WBO Asia Pacific super middleweight title but snatch the super middleweight belt from his Chinese opponent.
But the newly-crowned champ buried the hatchet after the fight, dedicating his victory to the “India-China friendship” and calling for an end to the distrust that has flared up over a border disagreement.
“I want to give back this belt to Zulpikar. I hope for peace in the border and the message is about peace. That is most important,” Singh was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India.
Indian and Chinese troops have been locked in a standoff at a remote but strategically important Himalayan plateau near where Tibet, India and Bhutan meet.
The plateau gives China access to the so-called “chicken neck” — a thin strip of land connecting India’s northeastern states with the rest of the country.
The row has festered for more than a month as India and China refuse to back down in the distant but key territory.
Mistrust between the giant neighbors goes back centuries with the pair having fought a brief war in 1962 in India’s border state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Star Indian boxer offers to trade title for peace with China
Star Indian boxer offers to trade title for peace with China
Russia diverts its naphtha from Oman due to Middle Eastern crisis, data shows
- Strikes have disrupted energy production and shipping, including naphtha loadings and discharges
- Since the European Union’s full embargo on Russian oil products took effect in February 2023, most Russian naphtha has been directed to the Middle East and Asia
MOSCOW: Russia has diverted its naphtha cargoes from Oman amid the Middle East crisis as it looks for new buyers, traders said and LSEG data showed, with at least one tanker now heading for Singapore.
Iran’s strikes on Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and US strikes against it have disrupted energy production and shipping, including naphtha loadings and discharges.
Since the European Union’s full embargo on Russian oil products took effect in February 2023, most Russian naphtha has been directed to the Middle East and Asia.
Middle Eastern countries are also the top supplier to Asia with the recent disruption forcing Asia’s naphtha margin to four-year highs, while at least one South Korean naphtha cracker operator was considering declaring force majeure and another has cut its operating rate by around a fifth.
The Liberia-flagged tanker, Amfitrion, which loaded in February in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk destined for Oman, last week halted navigation near the Gulf of Masira and on Tuesday turned for Singapore, according to LSEG data.
Five middle-sized tankers carrying a total 180,000 metric tons of naphtha in January departed Russian ports for an offshore STS (ship-to-ship) berth near Oman’s Shinas, shipping data showed. The final destination of these cargoes remains unknown.
According to data from LSEG and traders, Russia also sent two cargoes to Oman’s Sohar in November-December, carrying a total of 190,000 tons of naphtha as its other markets dried up.
India and Taiwan were among the main Asian buyers of Russian naphtha, but recent US sanctions have prompted both countries to pull back. Exports to Venezuela have also fallen to zero this year after US President Donald Trump in December ordered a blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving the Latin American country.
Though Asian buyers face naphtha shortages, Western sanctions could force traders to shun Russian cargoes. The long navigation from Russia’s Baltic ports to Asia also prevents prompt shipments, market sources said.
