Singapore fumes over Kejriwal’s claim of new Covid variant, MEA says Delhi CM does not speak for India

Following Singapore’s strong objection to Arvind Kejriwal’s claims of a ‘Singapore variant’ of Covid-19, India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar has clarified that Delhi CM does not speak for India.

Singapore on Wednesday refuted reports quoting Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal that a new Covid strain has been found in Singapore which is dangerous for children. Singapore health ministry said that there was no truth in Kejriwal’s assertion. 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.https://t.co/uz0mNPNxlE https://t.co/Vyj7gyyzvJ 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. Following Singapore’s strong response to media reports quoting Delhi CM’s statement, India’s Minister of External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar clarified that “Delhi CM does not speak for India.” Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday appealed to the Centre to cancel all flights to and from Singapore, citing concerns over a new strain of coronavirus that is said to be dangerous for children.