Despite the diplomatic hiccup triggered by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, India and Singapore are standing together.
Thanking External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar for his intervention with regards to Delhi CM’s comments, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said both countries should “focus on resolving the situation in our respective countries and helping one another. Nobody is safe until everyone is safe”.
Thanks @DrSJaishankar let’s focus on resolving the situation in our respective countries and helping one another. Nobody is safe until everyone is safe. https://t.co/2ofAZbGw9k
— Vivian Balakrishnan (@VivianBala) May 19, 2021
Kejriwal had appealed to the Centre on Tuesday for cancellation of flights from Singapore saying that a new strain of coronavirus has been identified in the city-state.
Reacting to Kejriwal’s comments, Dr Jaishankar 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.”
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
Hitting out at Kejriwal, he also said, “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 new form of coronavirus in Singapore is said to be very dangerous for children. It could reach India in the form of a third wave. My appeal to the Central government: 1. Cancel all air services with Singapore with immediate effect 2. Work on vaccine alternatives for children on a priority basis,” Kejriwal had said in a tweet in Hindi.
सिंगापुर में आया कोरोना का नया रूप बच्चों के लिए बेहद ख़तरनाक बताया जा रहा है, भारत में ये तीसरी लहर के रूप में आ सकता है।
केंद्र सरकार से मेरी अपील:
1. सिंगापुर के साथ हवाई सेवाएं तत्काल प्रभाव से रद्द हों
2. बच्चों के लिए भी वैक्सीन के विकल्पों पर प्राथमिकता के आधार पर काम हो— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 18, 2021
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi also put out a tweet to clarify India’s position vis a vis Kejriwal’s comments.
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.
— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) May 19, 2021
“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,” he tweeted.
MFA regrets the unfounded assertions made on Facebook and Twitter by Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal that a variant of COVID-19 found in Singapore was particularly harmful to children and could cause a third wave of infections in India.
Read more:https://t.co/ztszSeBGFy— MFAsg (@MFAsg) May 19, 2021
Kejriwal’s comments raised eyebrows in diplomatic circles as recently the World Health Organisation (WHO) had clarified that it does not identify any virus or their variants by country names from which they originated. WHO had said that they referred to the virus strains by their scientific name and further requested all others to do the same.
WHO does not identify viruses or variants with names of countries they are first reported from. We refer to them by their scientific names and request all to do the same for consistency. @PTI_News @PIB_India @ANI @timesofindia @htTweets @IndianExpress @the_hindu @MoHFW_INDIA
— WHO South-East Asia (@WHOSEARO) May 12, 2021
Reacting to Kejriwal’s remark, Singapore High Commissioner to India, Simon Wong, 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.”
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
Singapore has been a close partner of India and provided COVID-19 aid to India during the second wave, and bilateral ties run deep between the two countries.
The contribution of Singapore 🇸🇬 as a key source of equipment reqired for Covid-relief continues to grow, as shown in the list below. The High Commission conveys its gratitude to all concerned for the support and assistance. 🙏@MEAIndia @PMOIndia @DrSJaishankar #Unite2FightCorona pic.twitter.com/EGYonlQ8jb
— India in Singapore (@IndiainSingapor) May 18, 2021
WHO has classified three strains as variants of concern: B.1.1.7, which was first detected in the UK; B.1.351, first detected in South Africa, and the P.1 variant, first detected in Brazil. Recently, it also classified the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus, first identified in India, as a variant of concern at the global level.
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