Delhi chief minister Aravind Kejriwal has warned that a potential third wave of coronavirus in India could come from Singapore. Kejriwal claimed that there is a new Covid variant in Singapore, and made it clear that it is a very dangerous strain of virus that could turn deadly for children.
Kejriwal urges government to cancel air services with Singapore
Kejriwal, in one of his recent tweets, urged the government to cancel all air services with Singapore with immediate effects to protect the country from a devastating third wave of Covid.
"The new variant of coronavirus in Singapore is touted to be very dangerous for children. It could reach Delhi in the form of a third wave. I urge the Central Government to cancel all air services to and from Singapore. The government should also try to work on vaccine alternatives for children on a priority basis," wrote Kejriwal, as translated from Hindi.
Singapore government slams Arvind Kejriwal
However, the tweet from Arvind Kejriwal has not gone well with the Singaporean government. On Wednesday, Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan slammed Kejriwal for his tweets and urged the Delhi chief minister to stick to facts. The Singapore government also conveyed its strong objection to the Indian High Commissioner on Delhi CM's comment about the Singapore variant.
Balakrishnan also noted that the Covid variant B.1.617 is spreading in Singapore. It should be noted that the B.1.617 variant was initially detected in India, and it has since spread to various countries like the United Kingdom and Singapore.
Politicians should stick to facts!
— Vivian Balakrishnan (@VivianBala) May 19, 2021
There is no “Singapore variant”. https://t.co/SNJaF7wkwC https://t.co/pNgw4bkV4H
S Jaishankar, foreign minister of India too dismissed the claims made by Arvind Kejriwal, and made it clear that the Delhi chief minister ''does not speak for India.''
"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 Jaishankar.