Stockholm International Peace Research Institute #SIPRI

According to the latest report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), despite an 11 per cent drop in arms import between 2013-17 and 2018-22, India remained the world’s largest arms importer from 2018 to 2022 followed by Saudi Arabia.

Reasons for the dip:
- India’s slow and complex arms procurement process, and efforts to diversify its arms suppliers, among others

More about the findings ⬇️
- Russia’s position as India’s main arms supplier is under pressure owing to strong competition from other supplier states, increased Indian arms production, and, since 2022, constraints on Russia’s arms exports related to its invasion of Ukraine.
- Under two-thirds of Russian arms exports went to India, China, and Egypt in 2018-22 — at 31 per cent, 23 per cent, and 9.3 per cent, respectively.
- While Russian arms exports went down by 37 per cent between the two periods, exports to China and Egypt increased by 39 per cent and 44 per cent, respectively, within the same time frame.
- India’s arms import from France included 62 combat aircraft and four submarines and increased by 489 per cent between 2013-17 and 2018-22.
- France, therefore, displaced the USA to become the second largest supplier to India in 2018-22.
- India was the third-largest arms supplier to Myanmar during this period after Russia and China and comprised 14 per cent of its imports.
- It also stated that 77 per cent of Pakistan’s arms supply in 2018-22 came from China.
- Imports of major arms by European states increased by 47 per cent between 2013-17 and 2018-22 in the backdrop of the war in Ukraine even as the global volume of international arms transfers fell by 5.1 per cent.