BJP is doing cheap politics on Singapore COVID strain: Delhi DyCM Manish Sisodia hits out at Centre

It may be recalled that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's remarks about a new form of COVID-19 in Singapore has sparked off a diplomatic row between India and Singapore.

NEW DELHI: Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday hit back at the BJP government and said that it was more concerned about its image and doing politics over the new COVID strain found in Singapore.

“The BJP is doing cheap politics. It is worried about its image in Singapore but not about children under threat from the new COVID strain,” Delhi Deputy CM Manish Sisodia said. "Kejriwal talked of Singapore strain and the children. The issue is not Singapore but children," he said.

It may be recalled that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's remark about a new form of COVID-19 in Singapore has sparked off a diplomatic row between India and Singapore.

Remarks from Sisodia came after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Delhi chief minister "does not speak for India" and that the two countries have been solid partners in combating the pandemic. 

In response to Kejriwal's tweet, the Southeast Asian city-state called the Indian envoy and conveyed to him its strong objections to the "unfounded assertions".

Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi, said the Indian High Commissioner P Kumaran clarified to the Singapore government that the Delhi chief minister had no competence to comment on COVID-19 variants.

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.

Kejriwal on Tuesday asked the central government to immediately halt air services with Singapore claiming that a new coronavirus strain found in that country is particularly harmful to children and could trigger a third wave of the pandemic in India. Singapore's health ministry trashed the claim on Tuesday night.

"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.
Earlier, Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan tweeted: "Politicians should stick to facts! There is no 'Singapore variant'."

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 on Wednesday, 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.

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. @VivianBala https://t.co/x7jcmoyQ5a — Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) May 19, 2021

"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 long-standing partnerships. So, let me clarify- Delhi CM does not speak for India," he said.

Soon after Jaishankar's comments, Balakrishnan thanked his Indian counterpart and called for focusing on resolving the situation in the respective countries and helping one another, adding, "Nobody is safe until everyone is safe."

Singapore's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said the assertions made by Kejriwal were unfounded. "MFA regrets the unfounded assertions made on Facebook and Twitter by Chief Minister of Delhi Arvind Kejriwal that a variant of COVID-19 found in Singapore was particularly harmful to children and could cause the third wave of infections in India," it said.

"MFA is disappointed that a prominent political figure had failed to ascertain the facts before making such claims," it said. The MFA said it met High Commissioner Kumaran this morning to express these concerns.

"As highlighted by MOH (Ministry of Health) in its press release of May 18, there is no 'Singapore variant'. 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 MFA said.