NEW DELHI – India's foreign minister is demanding an apology from online retail giant Amazon.com Inc. for selling doormats depicting the Indian flag through its Canadian retail website.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj warned in a Twitter message on Wednesday that she could deny Indian visas to Amazon employees if the company did not apologize and "withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately."
India is not the only country whose flag was featured on a doormat. Amazon sells similar mats showing flags of the U.S., Canada and other countries.
The site removed the Indian-themed product, however, following Swaraj's Twitter threat.
The Indian flag doormats had outraged many among the Indian diaspora in Canada who have posted pictures of the product to social media accounts and urged the foreign minister to formally object.
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