German ambassador to India calls 'cartoon' in magazine uncalled for, praises Indian Railway infrastructure

By Sahil Pandey

New Delhi [India], April 27 : Responding to a controversial cartoon in a German magazine which drew sharp criticism from India, German ambassador to India Philipp Ackermann on Thursday hailed the Indian Railway infrastructure and said cartoonists should visit the Delhi Metro which is state of the art.

A cartoon in Der Spiegel, was depicting an overcrowded Indian train with people sitting on top holding the tricolour, overtaking a modernised Chinese bullet train running on a parallel track with just two drivers inside.

"In my personal opinion, the cartoon was neither funny nor appropriate. I would like to invite this cartoonist to come on a metro ride with me in Delhi. I think many metros in Germany are not as good as Delhi Metro and same for the train system. He should inquire a little more about India and know how state-of-the-art their railway system is," Germany Envoy told .

Union Minister of State for Entrepreneurship, Skill Development and Electronics & Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar tweeted, ''Dear Cartoonist at @derspiegel...Notwithstanding your attempt at mocking India... it's not smart to bet against India under PM @narendramodi ji....In a few years, India's economy will be bigger than Germany's.''

On similar lines, Baijayant Jay Panda, National Vice President of BJP said, ''In German, the name of the influential magazine Der Spiegel means The Mirror. But going by this derogatory, racist cartoon, it should change its name to Rassistischer Troll. and considering Germany's difficult history involving racism & the holocaust, Germans everywhere should force this race-baiting publication to hold a mirror to its conscience.''