Is India getting too touchy about racist/abusive jokes abroad?

First it was a New Zealand television personality deliberately mauling and mispronouncing the Delhi chief minister's second name as a pair of expletives. Then came a report about some Australian police officers making racist jokes about Indians in an email forward of a photograph of a Mumbai railway commuter who was charred to death when riding atop a local train.

In both instances, India's external affairs ministry was quick to take umbrage and summon the high commissioners of the two countries to lodge strong protests and demand action against those involved.

While racism and racist violence are uniformly condemned around the world today, racist and expletive-ridden jokes are still quite common, particularly among English-speaking populations. Indians themselves are not above telling and retelling racist, casteist, communal and filthy jokes. George W Bush was one particularly favourite target, for instance.

In view of this, do you think the government of India is justified in taking up these cases at the highest level and demanding action? Or are we being too touchy and holier-than-thou?