German language row: Steiner hopeful about practical solution

Amidst controversy over the HRD Ministry's decision to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in the Kendriya Vidyalayas, German Ambassador to India Michael Steiner on Saturday said he is confident that New Delhi would soon find a practical solution to the issue.

"The first thing is that I continue to be very confident that India finds a practical solution. Secondly, I want to say here something; I have served in many posts, in many countries in the world. In many countries the students learn German, but the Indian students are by far the best," Steiner told the media here.

Asserting that the government did not renew the MoU on German language as it would have been a violation of the Constitution, Union HRD Minister Smriti Irani had earlier on Friday said a deliberate controversy was being created over the issue.

"German is a foreign language which is being taught as a foreign language and I feel that a controversy is being created deliberately because in a press briefing four days ago, I had specified everything. The Centre cannot deliberately approve an MoU, which violates the three-language formula which is already being implemented in 33 states," Irani told reporters here.

She further said the students were free to choose any Indian language, adding that German was already being taught as a foreign language.

This move to replace German with Sanskrit as the third language in the Kendriya Vidyalayas had reportedly prompted German Chancellor Angela Merkel to raise the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the two leaders met in Brisbane on the sidelines of G-20 Summit earlier this month.