Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal made headlines for all the wrong reasons and has hurt diplomatic sensitivities.
Delhi CM Kejriwal Tuesday appealed to the Centre and sought cancellation of flights from Singapore. He said that a new strain of coronavirus has been identified in Singapore which is believed to be very dangerous for children.
“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 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
Kejriwal’s comments have however raised eyebrows in the 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 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 aid to India during the second wave, and bilateral ties run deep between the two countries.
It has been a close strategic partner and Delhi CM should realise the diplomatic sensitivities. Also, the actual version as classified by WHO is and shouldn’t be identified with any country’s name.
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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