Jacinda Arden: High Commission Should Have Used Normal Channels To Raise Oxygen Request

Jacinda Arden  high commission: New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said that the New Zealand high commission in India should have used “normal channels and protocols" to get oxygen cylinder.

The New Zealand high commission had tagged Indian Youth Congress in a tweet that requested an oxygen cylinder. The Tweet was later deleted by the high commission. The national president of the Indian Youth Congress Srinivas BV tweeted that the oxygen cylinders had been supplied.

Jacinda Arden emphasised multiple times that a local staff member inside the high commission’s compound was “very unwell”. The staff member inside the embassy was critically ill. Arden said that the high commission apologised for their Tweet and added that other means that should have been used to get oxygen.

Arden said that “there are channels that they can and should be going through for such matters.” She added even though “strict protocols” have been put in place for the high commission, it is a “very difficult environment to try and ensure that there’s no infections.”

The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade apologised for the tweet. The high commission said that they were trying all sources to arrange for oxygen and said that their appeal had been misinterpreted.

We are trying all sources to arrange for oxygen cylinders urgently and our appeal has unfortunately been misinterpreted, for which we are sorry.

— NZ in India (@NZinIndia) May 2, 2021

Arden stated that the high commission deleted the Tweet and acknowledged that it wasn’t the process they should have used. She said that the commission was “very well-supported” by the Indian government and “they should have been using those normal channels and protocols.”

Jacinda Arden, the 40th Prime Minister of New Zealand, became the world’s youngest female head of government at the age of 37. She is New Zealand’s third female prime minister. In 2020, she won a second term in office as the Prime Minister. The Prospect Magazine named her as one of the World’s Top 50 Thinkers of COVID-19 Age.