Soon after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj threatened of not granting Indian Visa to any Amazon official if the company did not withdraw an Indian flag-themed doormat from its Canadian platform, the e-commerce website removed the article from the online marketplace.
A spokesman for Amazon's headquarters in Seattle, confirmed that the doormat was no longer for sale on its website.
This came immediately after Swaraj tweeted that Amazon must tender an unconditional apology and withdraw all products ‘insulting’ the Tricolour, otherwise no Amazon official will get an Indian visa.
"Amazon must tender unconditional apology. They must withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately," she 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 said in another tweet.
Doormats featuring the Indian flag were made available on Amazon Canada site by two vendors -- Mayers Flag Doormats and XLYL.
A week ago, Phoenix-based Ratnesh Mishra came across the Indian flag doormat on Amazon's Canadian website. Incensed with this, he wrote a post and tagged social-media-savvy Minister.
Swaraj took up his cause on the micro blogging site, responding to one of the hundreds of people who have petitioned her to demand action from Canadian authorities.
Mishra had also tweeted an image of the products to the Minister, after which she asked the Indian High Commission in Canada to raise the issue with Amazon.
The Indian High Commission in Ottawa, however, did not respond to a request for clarification on whether it had lodged a complaint with Amazon's Canadian offices.
The company that sold the doormats, XLYL, also offers versions with the American and Canadian flags. No laws in Canada prohibit these sales.
