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India expresses ‘strong displeasure’ to South Korean envoy over Hyundai Pakistan’s Kashmir tweet
S Jaishankar, Union minister for external affairs, said that he also discussed the issue with Chung Eui-yong, his South Korean counterpart in a call, alongside other bilateral issues.
India expresses ‘strong displeasure’ to South Korean envoy over Hyundai Pakistan’s Kashmir tweet
The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said a “strong displeasure” was conveyed to South Korea over a social media post by Hyundai Pakistan.
External affairs minister S Jaishankar said he had also discussed the issue with Chung Eui-yong, his South Korean counterpart in a call, along with other bilateral issues.
In a detailed statement, the ministry said the Indian ambassador to South Korea had sought an explanation from Hyundai headquarters regarding the post.
“We had seen a social media post on the so-called Kashmir Solidarity Day made by Hyundai Pakistan. Immediately after this social media post on Sunday (February 6), our ambassador in Seoul contacted the Hyundai headquarters and sought an explanation. The offending post had been removed subsequently. The Ambassador of the Republic of Korea was summoned by the Ministry of External Affairs on February 7. The strong displeasure of the government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in the statement.
“It was highlighted that this matter concerned India's territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise. We expected the company to take appropriate action to properly address these issues,” the ministry added.
Further, the MEA said the South Korean foreign minister had expressed his regrets towards the offence caused by the Twitter post.
“Foreign minister of the Republic of Korea (RoK) HE Chung Eui-yong called the external affairs minister this morning. While they discussed several issues, the Rok foreign minister also conveyed that they regretted the offence caused to the people and Government of India by the social media post,” the ministry said.
It said Hyundai Motors has conveyed its “deep regret” over the incident and said the company does not comment on political or religious issues. “India welcomes investments by foreign companies in various sectors. But, it is also expected that such companies or their affiliates will refrain from false and misleading comments on matters of sovereignty and territorial integrity,” the MEA said.
The controversy started after posts by the Nishat Group, Hyundai’s partner in Pakistan, put up a post on Twitter about the annual ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’, commemorating what it called the struggles of Kashmiris.
Following a massive uproar in India with #BoycottHyundai trending on social media platforms, the company’s Indian arm issued a statement reaffirming its commitment to the country.
“Hyundai Motor India has been committed to the Indian market for more than 25 years now and we stand firmly for our strong ethos of respecting nationalism," the message read.
"The unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India is offending our unparalleled commitment and service to this great country. We have a zero-tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we strongly condemn any such view," it further said.
