Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Delhi CM cannot decide on civil aviation policy, foreign variants: India to Singapore

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's push to ban flights from Singapore has led to a diplomatic incident with the Singapore government, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) squarely taking the latter's side.

India has clarified to Singapore that the government stands with Singapore's assessment of it's own COVID-19 situation, stressing on the fact that the Delhi CM does not speak for central policies.

"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," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi tweeted on May 19.

A day before, Kejriwal had appealed to the Centre to ban air services with Singapore owing to a deadly new variant emerging in Singapore.

"The new form of coronavirus in Singapore is said to be very dangerous for children. It could reach Delhi in the form of a third wave. I appeal to the centre that : 1. Cancel all air services with Singapore with immediate effect 2. Work on vaccine alternatives for children on a priority basis," the Delhi chief minister had said in a tweet in Hindi on 18 May.

But, Kejriwal's call has now been criticised by the government with Foreign Minister S Jaishankar tweeting out a rebuke. "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.

The minister added that Singapore and India have been solid partners in the fight against COVID-19 and appreciated Singapore'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.

He was hinting at Singapore marshalling military aircraft to quickly transport critical oxygen supplies to Indian companies.

19/05/21 Subhayan Chakraborty/Moneycontrol

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