The government has winched up its economic retaliatory response by making it mandatory for sellers to declare the country of origin of the goods and services on the government procurement portal, GEM. Citizens burn products made in China during a protest in Lucknow on June 17, 2020. The notice does not single out China by name but it is evident which country is being targeted. Launched in 2016, the GeM portal is used for online purchases of goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments. So far, 394,461 sellers and service providers are registered with the portal to sell 18,30,688 products and several services.

Source: The Telegraph June 23, 2020 21:21 UTC