NEW DELHI/SEOUL: South Korea’s Hyundai Motor said it deeply regrets the offence caused to Indian due to an “unauthorised” tweet from the account of its Pakistan partner that expressed solidarity for the people of the disputed territory of Kashmir.
“As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region. We deeply regret any offence caused to the people of India by this unofficial social media activity,” Hyundai said in a Twitter post on Tuesday.
Hyundai is facing calls for a boycott by hundreds of social media users in India, which claims the whole of Kashmir as an integral part of the country. The social media users said the company must apologise for being insensitive to India’s position on the decades-old dispute over Kashmir.
The row erupted on Sunday, a day after Pakistan marked the annual Kashmir Solidarity Day and the posts on behalf of Hyundai’s partner Nishat Group appeared on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram commemorating the sacrifices of the people of Kashmir struggling for self-determination.
The Nishat Group did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Hyundai is India’s second-largest car seller after Maruti Suzuki selling close to half a million vehicles in the country last fiscal year and exporting over a million units, making it the country’s largest car exporter.
INDIA SUMMONS S KOREA AMBASSADOR
India summoned South Korea’s ambassador to express displeasure over the post, the Indian foreign ministry said.
The foreign ministers of India and South Korea also spoke by telephone.
South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed his regret during the conversation with Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said.
South Korea’s envoy was called into the Indian foreign office on Monday to register New Delhi’s protest against the posts, Arindam Bagchi said.
“The strong displeasure of the government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him,” he said.
“It was highlighted that this matter concerned India’s territorial integrity on which there could be no compromise. We expect the company to take appropriate action to properly address these issues.”
