Fury in India over Hyundai Pakistan's Kashmir tweet

NEW DELHI • India has summoned South Korea's ambassador to express displeasure over a social media post by a Pakistani partner of Hyundai Motor over disputed Kashmir, the Indian foreign ministry said yesterday.

The foreign ministers of India and South Korea also spoke by phone as the car company faced a backlash in India from customers incensed by comments expressing solidarity with the people of Kashmir. India and its arch-rival Pakistan control parts of Kashmir, but both claim the Himalayan territory in full.

South Korea's envoy was called into the Indian foreign office on Monday, Indian foreign ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said.

"The strong displeasure of the government on the unacceptable social media post by Hyundai Pakistan was conveyed to him," Mr Bagchi 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."

Separately, South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong expressed his regret during the call with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, an Indian foreign ministry spokesman said.

The row erupted on Sunday, a day after Pakistan marked the annual Kashmir Solidarity Day.

Posts on behalf of Hyundai's partner, the Nishat Group, appeared on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram commemorating what it described as the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for self-determination.

India says Pakistan supports an armed insurrection against New Delhi's rule in India-controlled Kashmir that broke out in 1990.

Pakistan denies the charge and says it provides only diplomatic and moral support for the Kashmiri people.

India and Pakistan have twice gone to war over Muslim-majority Kashmir.

Earlier yesterday, Hyundai issued a statement saying it deeply regrets any offence caused to Indians by an "unauthorised" tweet from the account of its Pakistan partner.

"As a business policy, Hyundai Motor Company does not comment on political or religious issues in any specific region," Hyundai said in a tweet.

The Nishat Group, Pakistan's largest business conglomerate, did not respond to a request for comment.

Hyundai is India's second-largest car seller after Maruti Suzuki, selling close to half a million vehicles in the country in the last fiscal year and exporting over a million units, making it India's largest car exporters.

Hundreds of people on social media demanded that the company apologise for being insensitive to India's concerns.

Indian Twitter user Ashutosh Soni said he had cancelled his booking for Hyundai's Verna sedan that was due to be delivered this month and bought a car from rival Honda Motor instead.

"#BoycottHyundai, that's it!" he tweeted, along with a photograph of himself taking delivery of a new Honda car.

REUTERS