Pakistan back to old games

Strategic Analyst

In a five-year-long parallel effort by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and South Korea’s First Lady Kim Jung-sook to claim Ayodhya’s legacy, the South Korean lost out last week. On February 27, in the fifth phase of polling in UP, voters in Ayodhya will decide whether Adityanath’s party, the BJP, will fare any better than the First Lady.

Last week’s social media posts on behalf of foreign companies operating in Pakistan to mark ‘Kashmir Solidarity Day’ constitute a well-laid trap for India.

Ayodhya has been a sweetener in the flourishing bilateral relations between India and South Korea: until some Pakistanis decided to be the fly in the ointment as it were. Social media posts on behalf of South Korean companies expressing solidarity with pro-Pakistan Kashmiris now threaten to disrupt years-long, laser-focused efforts to develop South Korea into one of India’s most important external economic and foreign policy priorities. The long sequence of events over four days to salvage this relationship is best described in the words of Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

‘We had seen a social media post on the so-called Kashmir Solidarity Day was made by Hyundai Pakistan. Immediately, on 6th February, 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 (RoK) was summoned by the MEA on 7th February. The strong displeasure of the government on the unacceptable social media post was conveyed to him. 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. Foreign Minister of RoK, Chung Eui-yong called External Affairs Minister on 8th February. RoK Foreign Minister also conveyed that they regretted the offence caused to the people and Government of India by the social media post.’

Kim’s immediate predecessor as First Lady, Kim Yoon-ok, claims to be a direct descendant of Princess Suriratna of Ayodhya, who travelled to Korea in 48 BC at the age of 16 and married Korean King Kim Suro. Surirana subsequently became Queen Heo Hwang-ok of Geumgwan Gaya, what is now Gimhae city in South Korea. It was during the presidency of Kim Dae-jung, another descendant of Queen Heo, that India and South Korea decided to set up a memorial in Ayodhya for its Princess Suriratna, who has an important place in Korean history. In 2018, the incumbent First Lady Kim went to Ayodhya to inaugurate the renovated memorial, now known as Queen Heo Hwang-ok Memorial Park.

What Adityanath has done in Ayodhya is well known and he reminds Indians every day of it — on television, newspapers, billboards etc. All the more, in the run-up to the UP election. His efforts have been immense compared to South Korean activity in Ayodhya. Yet, in the seven years since Modi became PM and devoted special attention to relations with Seoul, the legend of Princess Suriratna and South Korea’s Ayodhya connection has caught the imagination of Indians. It gave a special flavour to India-Korea friendship, which now threatens to unravel because of Pakistan’s mischief.

Last week’s social media posts on behalf of foreign companies operating in Pakistan to mark the so-called Kashmir Solidarity Day constitute a well-laid trap for India. It is absolutely vital for New Delhi’s external affairs that India does not fall into this trap. Indications in the one week since Hyundai became a household name in India — for reasons which are viewed unfavourably — are not promising.

To start with, most Indians have not comprehended that it was Hyundai’s franchisee in Pakistan, the Nishat Group, which put out tributes ‘commemorating the sacrifices of Kashmiris struggling for self-determination’ on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Hyundai, the South Korean conglomerate, had no part in it. The Nishat Group is Pakistan’s largest business house, one of the 22 families which own Pakistan. After the army, it is these 22 families which notoriously control Pakistan. The Imran Khans and the Nawaz Sharifs matter less than these families in Pakistan’s curious and opaque state of play.

The Bhuttos and the Sharifs come and go in Pakistan. They can be imprisoned at will. Before or after Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s time in the most powerful office, none of these 22 families have endured any suffering in Pakistan. It was Bhutto who paid with his life for harassing these families, which was among his many fatal follies. If Indians overlook the reality that conglomerates like the Nishat Group have a cosy relationship with the army and have their own agendas, it will be a big mistake.

This is not to say that Hyundai can wash its hand of the conundrum. Indeed, they did not. They did the best they could under the circumstances. As soon as the parent Hyundai Motor Company became aware of its franchisee’s deliberate mischief, they reacted promptly and decisively, albeit red-faced. ‘It is clearly against Hyundai Motor’s policy that the independently-owned distributor in Pakistan made unauthorized Kashmir-related media posts from their own accounts.’ The key words in the statement are ‘from their own accounts’ and ‘unauthorized’. This is Hyundai’s dilemma in Pakistan. The statement added that the distributor misused Hyundai’s brand identity and has been firmly told that what they did was inappropriate.

Why did the Nishat Group do what it did? Or for that matter why did Pakistani franchisees for KFC, Pizza Hut, Schwabe, Honda, Isuzu, Kia Motors, Bosch Pharmaceuticals, Osaka Batteries all do what Hyundai did on Kashmir last week in one way or another? All these multinational corporations are represented in Pakistan by one or other of the 22 rich families. This is what Indians who were out on the streets last week protesting against Hyundai and are still ranting on social media should pause to consider.