Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s statement on the emergence of a new Covid-19 strain from Singapore has embarrassed India.
On Wednesday, the Singapore Foreign office called in the Indian envoy to lodge its objection to Kejriwal’s remarks about a new Coronavirus strain allegedly being detected in the Southeast Asian country.
There is no truth in the assertion that there is a new COVID strain in Singapore. Phylogenetic testing has shown that the B.1.617.2 variant is the prevalent strain in many of the COVID cases, including in children, in recent weeks in Singapore.https://t.co/uz0mNPNxlE https://t.co/Vyj7gyyzvJ
— Singapore in India (@SGinIndia) May 18, 2021
That move prompted External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Wednesday to reprimand Kejriwal over his claims of the discovery of "new Singapore Covid-19 variant". Jaishankar stressed that the "Delhi CM does not speak for India".
"However, irresponsible comments from those who should know better can damage long-standing partnerships. So, let me clarify – Delhi CM does not speak for India," tweeted Jaishankar.
However, irresponsible comments from those who should know better can damage long-standing partnerships.
So, let me clarify- Delhi CM does not speak for India.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 19, 2021
Delhi CM Kejriwal had tweeted in Hindi on Tuesday that, “The new form of Corona that came to Singapore is said to be extremely dangerous for children, in India as it may come as a third wave. My appeal to the central government: 1. Air services with Singapore to be cancelled with immediate effect 2. Vaccine options should be worked out for children too.”
Jaishankar then went pro-active to laud the exceptional role that Singapore has been playing in India’s fight against Covid-19. Jaishankar Singapore and India have been solid partners in the fight against Covid-19.
“Appreciate Singapore's role as a logistics hub and oxygen supplier. Their gesture of deploying military aircraft to help us speaks of our exceptional relationship. However, irresponsible comments from those who should know better can damage long-standing partnerships. So, let me clarify- Delhi CM does not speak for India,” Jaishankar said in a fresh tweet.
Reacting to Delhi CM’s call for a stop to air-traffic to and from Singapore, the Singapore High Commission in India tweeted: “There is no truth in the assertion that there is a new Covid strain in Singapore. Phylogenetic testing has shown that the B.1.617.2 variant is the prevalent strain in many of the Covid cases, including in children, in recent weeks in Singapore.”
On Wednesday, when the Singapore Government called in the Indian High Commissioner today to convey strong objection to Delhi CM's tweet on "Singapore variant," Indian high commissioner P Kumaran clarified Kejriwal had “no competence” to comment on Covid-19 variants, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said in a tweet.
Earlier Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan quoted Kejriwal’s original tweet and wrote on Twitter: “Politicians should stick to facts! There is no ‘Singapore variant’.”
Union aviation minister Hardeep Puri responded to Kejriwal’s remarks by saying that "Kejriwal ji, all international flights have been stopped since March 2020. We have no air bubble with Singapore either”. He said that there were no regular flights between India and Singapore, except for a few under the Vande Bharat mission to repatriate Indian nationals. We are monitoring the situation.
केजरीवाल जी, मार्च 2020 से ही अंतर्राष्ट्रीय उड़ानें बंद हैं। सिंगापुर के साथ एयर बबल भी नहीं है।
बस कुछ वन्दे भारत उड़ानों से हम वहाँ फँसे भारतीय लोगों को वापस लाते हैं। ये हमारे अपने ही लोग हैं।
फिर भी स्थिति पर हमारी नज़र है। सभी सावधानियाँ बरती जा रही हैं। pic.twitter.com/wOZMX0Q5CK
— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) May 18, 2021
Criticising the Delhi CM for his irresponsible behaviour that endangered Diplomatic Relations and creating panic, the BJP vice president Baijayant Jay Panda said in a tweet: “Not satisfied with mismanaging Delhi (no new ventilators in a year, no new hospitals in 7 years, no storage or distribution for O2 despite getting *highest* per-capita allocation in the country), Mr. U-Turn sets out to harm India's int'l relations with friendly, helpful nations.”
