“I would like to invite a cartoonist to come to India and come with me on a ride in the Delhi Metro, which is better than many Metro networks and which is state of the art. I am going to Dehradun by train tomorrow,” Philipp Ackermann, Germany’s ambassador to India, tells News18. He was referring to a cartoon recently published by German magazine Der Spiegel, depicting a dilapidated Indian train, overflowing with passengers both inside and atop coaches, overtaking a swanky Chinese train on a parallel track.
Many Indians, including union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, have criticised the sketch, terming it “racist” and “in bad taste”. It is being seen as mocking India as it overtakes China to become the world’s most populous nation.
In a detailed interview, Ackermann went on to clarify the position of the German government on the issue of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Parliament. “India has a completely independent judicial system, just like Germany. It was a three-statement answer, very factual and correct, but not perceived correctly in India. And since in diplomacy, we say perception is everything, next time we would be more careful,” he said.
A German foreign ministry spokesperson had made a statement on the issue during a press briefing that was aired on Germany’s state-owned broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW).
Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh took to Twitter to laud the statement, which gave a political colour to a standard answer given by the spokesperson of the German government.
Ackermann said, “We have an old practice in Germany to answer questions in a comprehensive way. We don’t say it is not our business, that is not a pattern we follow. It was a three-line statement, but the harsh reaction from the Indian side was shocking. Now we have to take that into consideration. But the fact is the statement does not include any judgement, not at all.”
Ackermann, who has spent eight months in India as the German ambassador, also answered questions on issues including China, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, and India’s G20 presidency.
President Xi Jinping speaking to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the phone to broker peace talks was welcomed by the German envoy, but he was also sceptical. “I welcome every attempt to stop the violence in Ukraine. If the Chinese President called Zelenskyy, if it is to stop Russian aggression, then we welcome it. But then China has an interest in Ukraine. They have investments. So I think that China can be playing a role to solve the conflict but I am sceptical because China has already taken a side.”
Ackermann agreed with some elements of China’s proposal but said he can’t see Beijing being a mediator as it is too partisan.
Also, he called the remarks made by the Chinese ambassador to France questioning the sovereignty of the Baltic states “scandalous in nature” but added that since Beijing has clarified “so it is a relief, reassuring, but the remark is shocking”.
Ackermann also spoke on French President Emmanuel Macron’s recent comment in China on following an American viewpoint, when he said, “Being an ally does not mean being a vassal.” The ambassador said, “I think on the China policy, there is no disagreement in the West, as the French President elaborated a bit on whether Europe can be completely dependent on America for security. And I think he has a point, as we see in Ukraine. Europe does not have the capacity for the degree of defence as high as we want. Maybe we should sit down in Europe to see what can be done to increase the capabilities in the degree of defence. And talking about my country, maybe we will invest more to increase our capabilities after seeing what is happening in Ukraine.”
The envoy spoke on the perception that the West is making India walk a tightrope on the G20 presidency by bringing in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. “We are happy that India has the presidency as it is a very difficult time. It is very important that a heavyweight like India holds the presidency. We all were happy with the statement proposed by India, but Russia and China opposed it. The Indian government also named them but we hope that India would be able to deliver a sound statement during the prime ministerial meet in September,” he said.
The ambassador also expressed his happiness over the India-Germany strategic partnership being at an all-time high and said there are various core areas on which both countries are keen to talk, like trade, clean energy, new technologies, and skilled labour.
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