On Wednesday, Asian country Singapore had summoned the Indian envoy and conveyed "strong objection" to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s claims that there is a covid strain found in Singapore that could be dangerous for children. The government today told the envoy had told them Mr Kejriwal "had no competence" on Covid variants.
Honouring India and Singapore’s relationship, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said that the Delhi CM “does not speak for India".
"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," the Foreign Minister tweeted.
At the same time, the foreign ministry has also released a statement saying: "Singapore Government called in our High Commissioner today to convey strong objection to Delhi CM's tweet on "Singapore variant". The High Commissioner clarified that the Delhi CM had no competence to pronounce on Covid variants or civil aviation policy.”
Yesterday, Arvind Kejriwal had appealed to the centre to immediately cancel all air services with Singapore, saying that the new variant found there is said to be “very dangerous for children” and can pose the threat of a third coronavirus wave in India.
Also Read: Singapore Covid strain poses danger to children, Kejriwal urges Centre to halt flight services
"The new form of Corona that came to Singapore is said to be extremely dangerous for children, in India 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," Mr Kejriwal had said in a Hindi tweet on Tuesday.
Countering Kejriwal’s Tweet, the Singapore Embassy in India on Tuesday had slammed his claims saying that there was no truth supporting his remark.
“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," the embassy said in a tweet.
Also Read: With recovery toll mounting over 2 crore, India maintains a declining trend in fresh casesCivil Aviation Minister Hardeep Puri too reminded Kejriwal that all international passenger flights to and from India have been barred - with some exceptions - since March last year when the country went into a nationwide COVID-19 lockdown. “Kejriwal Ji, international flights have been closed since March 2020. We do not even have an ‘air bubble’ arrangement with Singapore. There are only a few flights - Vande Bharat Missions - to bring back Indians stranded there. After all, these are our people," Puri tweeted, adding that all precautions are being taken by the government.