NYT apologizes for 'mocking' India Mars mission cartoon

The New York Times has reportedly apologized for a cartoon on India's Mars mission published in the newspaper after receiving complaints from several readers saying that it mocked India.

The cartoons showed a farmer with a cow knocking on the door of a room that said "Elite Space Club" where two men were shown sitting and reading a newspaper on India's accomplishment. The cartoon accompanied an article titled India's Budget Mission to Mars.

Saying that a "large number" of readers had complained about the cartoon, Andrew Rosenthal, editorial page editor of the New York Times, wrote in a Facebook post that the intent of the cartoonist, Heng Kim Song, was to convey the idea that space exploration is no longer the domain of the rich western countries and was in no way trying to "impugn India, its government or its citizens," reported the BBC.

India successfully put the Mangalyaan robotic probe into orbit around Mars last month at a total cost of 4.5 billion rupees. The mission is one of the cheapest interplanetary space missions ever.

Only the US, Russia and Europe have sent missions to Mars previously and India succeeded in its first attempt, an achievement that eluded even the Americans and the Soviets.