Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh has expressed extreme disappointment over Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar’s decision to bypass the government, writing to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to request a gift of Covid-19 vaccines.

Calling the behavior unbecoming of a former Prime Minister, Deyalsingh urged Persad-Bissessar to respect diplomatic channels and act in the best interest of Trinidad and Tobago.

“You may hate the government, but don’t hate Trinidad and Tobago,” Deyalsingh directed at Persad-Bissessar.

Deyalsingh revealed that Prime Minister Dr. Keith Rowley has already reached out to Prime Minister Modi.

Meanwhile, Foreign and CARICOM Affairs Minister Dr. Amery Browne has also been in engagement with his Indian counterpart, and joined in condemning Persad-Bissessar’s actions.

“The decision by the Leader of the Opposition to try to insert herself into a matter of ongoing Government-to-Government communication must be seen for what it is, an attempt to position herself to claim in retrospect that her letter was the one that achieved any particular outcome,” Dr. Browne said.

In the letter dated February 23rd, Persad-Bissessar is reported as writing that her party had reached out to the Keitl Rowley administration on the issue two weeks prior, to which she claimed to have reached out to the Indian government as a last resort.