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Amazon halts sales of Indian flag doormat after visa threat
Source: Reuters
TECHNOLOGY NEWS | Wed Jan 11, 2017 | 2:34pm EST
Amazon halts sales of Indian flag doormat after visa threat
By Sankalp Phartiyal | MUMBAI
Amazon.com removed doormats resembling the Indian tri-color flag from its Canadian website on Wednesday, after an Indian government threat to rescind visas of the U.S. company's employees if they did not stop selling the product.
"Amazon must tender unconditional apology," India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter. "They must withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately."
"If this is not done forthwith, we will not grant Indian Visa to any Amazon official," she added. "We will also rescind the Visas issued earlier."
The doormat, sold by a third-party on Amazon's Canadian portal, was taken down late on Wednesday.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Amazon's portal in Canada sells doormats fashioned around other national flags, but under Indian law any desecration of its flag is punishable with fines and imprisonment.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Amazon halts sales of Indian flag doormat after visa threat
By Sankalp Phartiyal | MUMBAI
Amazon.com removed doormats resembling the Indian tri-color flag from its Canadian website on Wednesday, after an Indian government threat to rescind visas of the U.S. company's employees if they did not stop selling the product.
"Amazon must tender unconditional apology," India's external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter. "They must withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately."
"If this is not done forthwith, we will not grant Indian Visa to any Amazon official," she added. "We will also rescind the Visas issued earlier."
The doormat, sold by a third-party on Amazon's Canadian portal, was taken down late on Wednesday.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Amazon's portal in Canada sells doormats fashioned around other national flags, but under Indian law any desecration of its flag is punishable with fines and imprisonment.
[font size=1]-snip-[/font]
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-amazon-com-india-politics-idUSKBN14V2EW