New Delhi: After Chandrayaan-3’s successful landing on the lunar surface on Wednesday evening, the netizens in India decided to remind the US-based newspaper New York Times about an old cartoon it published, which, many thought, mocked India’s space ambitions while portraying it as backward and poor.

The nine-year-old cartoon by the New York Times on India's space programme surfaced on social media timelines again.

New York Times had published the cartoon in 2014 after India’s successful Mangalyaan mission to put a robotic probe into the orbit around Mars in a budget of just Rs 450 crore.

Earlier, the US, Russia and Europe had sent missions to Mars but India’s was one of the cheapest interplanetary missions ever.

The New York Times cartoon depicted a man dressed as an Indian villager with a cow, knocking on the door of the "Elite Space Club," where two men in Western attire were seated.

This cartoon sparked intense protests, with people alleging that the newspaper had displayed racism and mockery towards India following its remarkable space accomplishment.

The public outcry prompted an apology from the newspaper.

In a Facebook post, Andrew Rosenthal, the editorial page editor of The New York Times, acknowledged that a "significant number of readers" had raised concerns about the cartoon.

"The intent of the cartoonist, Heng Kim Song, was to highlight how space exploration is no longer the exclusive domain of rich, Western countries. Mr Heng, who is based in Singapore, uses images and text - often in a provocative way - to make observations about international affairs. We apologise to readers who were offended by the choice of images in this cartoon," he had said.

Rosenthal had clarified that Mr. Heng's intention was not to criticize India, its government, or its people.

As Chandrayaan successfully landed near the Moon's southern pole, establishing India as the first nation to achieve this feat, users on Twitter resurfaced the earlier cartoon and directed their messages towards The New York Times, suggesting that it was an appropriate moment for a new cartoon to reflect the current achievement.

Rosenthal had clarified that Heng's intention was not to criticize India, its government, or its people.

As Chandrayaan-3 successfully landed near the Moon's southern pole, establishing India as the first nation to achieve this feat, users on X, formerly known as Twitter, resurfaced the earlier cartoon and directed their messages towards The New York Times, suggesting that it was an appropriate moment for a new cartoon to reflect the current achievement.

Among them was Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader Y Sathish Reddy. "You You chuckled, questioning our capabilities. Today, we silence you with our triumph! Now, go ahead & sketch a fresh cartoon," he posted on X, sharing the old cartoon.

Several X users took the opportunity to share a modified version of the NYT cartoon, inspired by a response from the Times of India three years ago.

The 2017 TOI cartoon, released when India set a remarkable record by launching 104 satellites into space using a single rocket, cleverly inverted the original NYT cartoon.

In the TOI version, the Indian man and his cow were depicted inside the "Elite Space Club," while the two men who were originally inside the club in the NYT's cartoon were shown outside, knocking on the door and keen to enter.

Yesterday, many social media users modified the TOI cartoon to illustrate that developed nations are now seeking India's guidance on achieving a successful spacecraft landing near the Moon's southern pole.