‘Shameful, nasty’: Singapore minister hits out at anti-India racism after Nepal floods

Senior Singaporean Minister K Shanmugam has strongly denounced racist and xenophobic online comments directed at India, branding them as "shameful, nasty, totally unacceptable." The remarks emerged in connection with the China-Nepal disaster, prompting investigations by the police. Shanmugam, who is also Singapore's home affairs minister and coordinating minister for national security, has directed the Ministry of Digital Development and Information to reach out to social media platforms to rectify comments that violate their guidelines.

One of the examples cited by Shanmugam included comments like "no, they are not our own," along with derogatory terms towards Indians. As one of India's most significant economic partners and the largest trade partner in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Singapore is deeply concerned by such inflammatory remarks.

Nepal is still reeling from the aftermath of the disaster, which took place on August 26 due to an ice-rock avalanche near the Nepal-Tibet border. The disaster led to a surge of water and debris through the Bhotekoshi River, devastating settlements across northern and central Nepal. The death toll in Nepal is estimated at 1,344, with nearly 5,000 people still missing.

Over 13,100 people have been rescued so far. Authorities face challenges in identifying the deceased, with many bodies severely damaged, decomposed, or recovered in fragments. To aid in the identification process, Nepal Police has begun collecting DNA samples from the relatives of the missing individuals.