Members of the Indian diaspora living in Singapore have come out strongly against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s tweet calling for halting of flights between India and Singapore, according to a report on a Singapore-based media outlet.
Citing a new COVID-19 virus, Delhi CM had earlier linked it to Singapore saying that the variant is considered to be dangerous for children.
Kejriwal’s comments were met with strong criticism by both the Indian and Singapore governments, with the Singapore Ministry of Health even directing social media giants Twitter and Facebook to issue corrections to the statement, citing the Protection from Online Falsehoods & Manipulation Act (POFMA), the report said.
This comes after Singapore’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan tweeted asking politicians to “stick to facts” and his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar’s tweet that stated that Kejriwal “did not speak for India”.
Politicians should stick to facts!
There is no “Singapore variant”. https://t.co/SNJaF7wkwC https://t.co/pNgw4bkV4H— Vivian Balakrishnan (@VivianBala) May 19, 2021
Reacting to Kejriwal’s comments and responding to Singapore FM, 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.”
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.
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 19, 2021
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“Kejriwal’s comments were inconsequential given the larger problems to tackle on the ground but glad that EAM Jaishankar and the Indian High Commission clarified that his remarks did not represent India’s official position on this matter”, Prantik Mazumdar, an Indian-origin entrepreneur and angel investor in Singapore told Connected to India (a Singapore-based media outlet).
(With Agency Inputs)