Singapore, MEA slam Kejriwal
NEW DELHI: Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s remarks about a new coronavirus strain allegedly being detected in Singapore triggered a diplomatic spat on Wednesday, with the Southeast Asian country calling in the Indian envoy to lodge an objection.
Indian high commissioner P Kumaran clarified Kejriwal had “no competence” to comment on Covid-19 variants, external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet. External affairs minister S Jaishankar described Kejriwal’s remarks as “irresponsible” and said the chief minister did not speak for India.
Kejriwal’s deputy, Manish Sisodia, hit out at the response to Singapore’s objection to the chief minister’s comments and added the Centre and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were only concerned about their image globally and not about the well-being of the country’s children. Sisodia added only Kejriwal is worried about the risk of children contracting the infection and not the Centre. “[Kejriwal] said that the danger of Covid-19 infecting more children is increasing. That is what it looks like going by the strain there [Singapore]... which is why it is necessary that we also remain alert... Singapore’s education minister had also given a statement that the risk of children getting infected is increasing. But today the BJP has started dirty politics on the issue,” said Sisodia.
Sisodia said the BJP and the Central government are only concerned about Singapore. “They won’t get vaccines for children, but they are worried about Singapore.” He added a few months back, a new strain was detected in London as well and despite several warnings, the Centre did not take necessary actions or measures in time because of which India is now facing a terrible situation.
It is rare for the external affairs ministry to acknowledge that an Indian envoy has been called in by the government of another country to lodge a pro
test, and also to publicly criticise an elected Indian official.
Hours after Kejriwal tweeted on Tuesday about the alleged new coronavirus strain in Singapore and asked the Centre to immediately suspend flights from that country, Singapore’s health ministry dismissed his assertions and said the variant prevalent in many Covid-19 cases in recent weeks was the “B.1.617.2 variant, which originated in India”.
“Singapore Government called in our High Commissioner today to convey strong objection to Delhi CM’s tweet on ‘Singapore variant’. High Commissioner clarified that Delhi CM had no competence to pronounce on Covid variants or civil aviation policy,” Bagchi tweeted.
Jaishankar tweeted that Singapore and India are solid partners in the fight against Covid-19. “However, irresponsible comments from those who should know better can damage longstanding partnerships. So, let me clarify – Delhi CM does not speak for India,” he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan quoted Kejriwal’s original tweet and said: “Politicians should stick to facts! There is no ‘Singapore variant’.”
Singapore’s foreign ministry rejected what it said were “unfounded assertions” on social media by Kejriwal and expressed its disappointment “that a prominent political figure had failed to ascertain the facts before making such claims”. These concerns were conveyed to the Indian envoy, the ministry said.
Officials said the Singapore government had reacted so strongly because Kejriwal’s assertions had not gone down well with the people of Singapore.