NEW DELHI: The Republic of Korea’s Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong called up India’s External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and expressed regret over Hyundai Pakistan’s social media post on Kashmir, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday.
"Received a call from ROK FM Chung Eui-yong today. Discussed bilateral and multilateral issues as also the Hyundai matter," tweeted Dr Jaishankar. Yesterday the external affairs ministry had also summoned the Korean Ambassador, Chang Jae-bok, to seek an explaination on the post.
"We had seen a social media post on the so called Kashmir Solidarity Day that was made by Hyundai Pakistan. Immediately after this social media post (February 6th), our Ambassador in Seoul contacted the Hyundai Headquarters and sought an explanation. The offending post had been removed subsequently," said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
It was highlighted that this matter concerned India’s territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise.
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 soverignity and territorial integrity, Mr Bagchi added.
Meanwhile, the controversy erupted after Hyundai’s Pakistani arm tweeted expressing their solidarity with Kashmir on February 5th as Pakistan celebrates it as Kashmir solidarity day. This led to a war of words on social media, where protesters demanded that Hyundai shut shop in India. One person tweeted that he cancelled the booking of his Hyundai car and opted for a Honda instead.
In the midst of this row, Hyundai India had issued a clarification yesterday saying, "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 unsolicited social media post linking Hyundai Motor India’s offending our unparalled commitment and service to this great country. India is second home to Hyundai brand and we have zero tolerance policy towards insensitive communication and we condemn any such views. As a part of our commitment to India, we will continue our efforts towards the betterment of the country as well as its citizens."
Hyundai sells the second highest number of cars in India after Maruti and this backlash could dent their sales and exports.
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi tweeted, "So many wishy washy words are not needed. All you need to say is – we are unequivocally sorry." The stakes for Hyundai are higher in India. Against the 50 lakh cars that they sell in India (and nearly 10 lakh that they export), they sell less than 10,000 cars in Pakistan annually.