Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter that visas of Amazon officials would be rescinded after Amazon Canada website was found to be selling doormats with the design of the Indian flag.
“Amazon must tender an unconditional apology. They must withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately,” Sushma Swaraj tweeted, ”If this is not done forthwith, we will not grant Indian Visa to any Amazon official. We will also rescind the Visas issued earlier,” she added.
Roughly four hours after Sushma Swaraj’s tweets, Amazon Canada removed the ‘offensive’ products from its catalog, with the product pages showing up a ‘page not found’ error. The said products were missing from Amazon Canada search results as well. “The item is no longer for sale on the site,” an Amazon representative told Gadgets 360.
Earlier, a Twitter user brought to Sushma Swaraj’s attention that Amazon Canada was selling doormats featuring the Indian flag. A simple search on Amazon Canada by Gadgets 360 verified this claim (see screenshot) a few minutes after the tweets, though the products were later removed from Amazon’s catalog.
It’s worth pointing out that Amazon is a marketplace and is not directly involved in selling all goods on its website, and the products in question seem to have been listed by a third-party seller on Amazon Canada.
The External Affairs Minister also instructed the Indian High Commission in Canada to take up the matter with Amazon.
