Covid-19 strain: Kejriwal doesn’t speak for India, says Jaishankar as Singapore summons country’s envoy

Singapore summoned the Indian High Commissioner P Kumaran today and conveyed strong objection to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's comments that a variant of Covid-19 found in Singapore was particularly harmful for children, and could cause a third wave of infections in India.

Following Singapore Foreign Ministry's reaction, regretting the "unfounded assertions" by Kejriwal, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar snubbed Kejriwal and said the Delhi Chief Minister does not speak for India.

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said the Indian High Commissioner conveyed to the Singapore government that Delhi's chief minister had no competence to comment on Covid-19 variants.

"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," Bagchi tweeted.

In its statement, the Singapore Foreign Ministry said there is no "Singapore variant" and that the strain prevalent in many of the Covid-19 cases in recent weeks is the B.1.617.2 variant which was first detected in India.

The Singapore Foreign Ministry said it is disappointed that a prominent political figure had failed to ascertain the facts before making such claims.

In a series of tweets today, Jaishankar said Singapore and India have been solid partners in combating the pandemic and appreciated the country's role as a logistics hub and oxygen supplier.

"Their gesture of deploying military aircraft to help us speaks of our exceptional relationship," Jaishankar said.

"However, irresponsible comments from those who should know better can damage longstanding partnerships. So, let me clarify -- Delhi CM does not speak for India."