"Stick to facts": Singapore foreign minister condemns Arvind Kejriwal's COVID-19 comments

Singapore foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan on Wednesday lashed out at Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal for his tweet on a dangerous variant t in Singapore, asking the activist-turned politician to "stick to facts." Politicians should stick to facts! There is no “Singapore variant.” Balakrishnan replied to Kejriwal on Twitter, mentioned the spread of B.1617 variant in Singapore. Earlier,  Singapore summoned the Indian envoy and conveyed its "strong objection" to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's tweet. Mr Kejriwal "has no competence" on Covid variants. "The Delhi Chief Minister does not speak for India," Foreign Minister S Jaishankar said in a public snub for Mr Kejriwal, which received a "thanks" from his Singapore counterpart. 

Politicians should stick to facts!
There is no “Singapore variant”. https://t.co/SNJaF7wkwChttps://t.co/pNgw4bkV4H

— Vivian Balakrishnan (@VivianBala) May 19, 2021

"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," Foreign Minister Jaishankar tweeted. Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan replied to Mr Jaishankar's tweet:  "Thanks @DrSJaishankar let's focus on resolving the situation in our respective countries and helping one another. Nobody is safe until everyone is safe." "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," said the foreign ministry. Yesterday, Kejriwal had urged the Centre to "cancel air services" with Singapore on account of what he called "a new form of corona that came to Singapore" and was extremely dangerous for children. Hours later, Singapore put out a strong rebuttal and said it was the India-dominant strain that had been detected in most recent cases in the country. "There is no truth in the assertion that there is a new COVID strain in Singapore. Phylogenetic testing has shown that the B.1.617.2 variant is the prevalent strain in many of the COVID cases, including in children, in recent weeks in Singapore," the Singapore High Commission in India tweeted.