New Delhi, May 19 (INN): The central government has said that the Delhi Chief Minister does not speak for India as the Singapore government summoned the Indian envoy and conveyed “strong objection” to the remarks made by Arvind Kejriwal regarding a coronavirus variant in the country.
“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,” said India External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Twitter.
“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,” he added.
India and Singapore have been close partners in strong commercial, historical, cultural, and people-to-people ties. The relationship has been further strengthened by regular bilateral visits from both sides.
The country has clarified that its relationship with Singapore cannot be hampered based on the Delhi Chief Minister’s comment that it had no competence on Covid variants.
EAM Jaishankar’s tweet came just after the government in a statement said that the India high commissioner has clarified to Singapore that the Delhi CM “had no competence” on Covid variants.
“Singapore Government called in our High Commissioner today to convey strong objection to Delhi CM’s tweet on “Singapore variant”. The High Commissioner clarified that Delhi CM had no competence to pronounce on Covid variants or civil aviation policy,” the Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a tweet.
In a twitter post, Arvind Kejriwal had hinted that the alleged new strain could mark the advent of the third wave of Covid-19 in the country. He had on Tuesday requested the Central government to suspend flights to and from Singapore with immediate effect as he warned of a possible new strain of the coronavirus detected in the city-state.
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