Arvind Kejriwal doesn't speak for India, Dr Jaishankar

The Singapore government on Wednesday called in the Indian envoy to lodge its objection to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s remarks about a new Coronavirus strain allegedly being detected in the Southeast Asian country. 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.  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 foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan quoted Kejriwal’s original tweet and wrote on Twitter: “Politicians should stick to facts! There is no ‘Singapore variant’.” Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said in tweets that the Delhi Chief Minister 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, he said.

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. @VivianBala https://t.co/x7jcmoyQ5a

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 19, 2021

Singapore -- one of the nations most successful at curbing coronavirus -- has denied that it has any homegrown strain that's affecting children, as tweeted by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. The Singapore High Commission tweeted on Tuesday, responding to Kejriwal's tweet calling for a stop to air-traffic to and from Singapore.The highly contagious B.1.617 variant was first detected in India and has now been found in several nations. It is said to be driving the second wave in the country that has brought the healthcare system to its knees. 

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

"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," Kejriwal had said in a Hindi tweet earlier on Tuesday.His tweet came amid concerns over a possible third wave, which many experts said is likely to target children. The first wave has affected the elderly the most, and the younger people have been infected in the second wave, they pointed out.