From India to Singapore, who said what on Kejriwal's new Covid variant claims

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.Premium
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
 2 min read . Updated: 19 May 2021, 06:47 PM IST Staff Writer

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday stirred a controversy after he urged the Centre to "cancel air services" with Singapore on account of "a new form of corona that came to Singapore", he said, adding that it was extremely dangerous for children.

"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," the Delhi Chief Minister had said in a Hindi tweet.

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The Delhi chief minister's claim triggered reactions from several Indian ministers and the Singapore government as well.

Let's take a look at who said what on the ongoing controversy:

  • Terming the comments "irresponsible", India's foreign minister S Jaishankar wrote on Twitter: "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 added.

Union Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said that all international flights have been stopped since March 2020. "Kejriwal ji, all international flights have been stopped since March 2020. We have no air bubble with Singapore either," Puri said.

Only a few flights are being operated between the two countries under Vande Bharat Mission to bring stranded Indians back, Puri added.

"We are still keeping an eye on the situation. All precautions are being taken," the Union Aviation Minister noted.

  • Spokesperson of the ministry of external affairs Arindam Bagchi said, "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."
  • The Singapore embassy in India said: "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."

  • Singapore's foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan said, "Politicians should stick to facts! There is no 'Singapore variant'."

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