In a bizarre incident, a US multinational retail chain has been accused of selling a globe that allegedly carries a distorted map of India.
Pictures of the globe being sold at Costco stores in Canada and elsewhere have gone viral on social media creating quite an uproaor that show India’s map without Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.
While the globe shows Kashmir as a separate territory, Arunachal Pradesh is shown as part of China.
Several Twitter users tweeted images of the globe in question and expressed shock and outrage.
In a tweet to Union External Affairs Minister, a concerned Indian resident of Toronto said, “Today in Costco we are shocked when we saw this ‘India without Kashmir’. This was a globe made in China. We gave a complaint regarding this to the Costco management. So, anyone went to Costco complain about this to the management. Lets raise our Voice’.
The Overseas Friends of BJP Canada (OFBJP Canada) also tweeted, “The OFBJP Canada calls upon COSTCO Management in Canada and elsewhere to withdraw the product Globe that excludes Kashmir from India. The globe is made in China. A complaint has been made to COSTCO in Greater Toronto Area (GTA), the most populous metropolitan area in Canada.”
Another tweet to Prime Minister Narendra Modi read, Dear Modiji, @narendramodi, “I am a resident of New Jersey, USA from Hyderabad India.
I came across this picture of an educational globe sold in a US retail store Costco and other active online websites like AMAZON. The pic shows Kashmir as No Mans Land not in sync to India Map.”
It has been stated that the globe carries ‘Made in China’ mark.
Meanwhile, a complaint has been filed with the Costco management in this regard and Indian-origin customers have demanded that the globe be withdrawn from sale immediately.
Costco Wholesale Corporation, trading as Costco, is a US multinational firm that operates a chain of warehouse clubs. In 2015, Costco was the second largest retailer in the world after Walmart.
Costco operates more than 700 warehouses in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Spain, Iceland and France.