Tops the list with 14 per cent of global arms imports
New Delhi : India has yet again emerged as the world’s largest importer of arms, with Russia being the top supplier garnering 70 per cent of the Indian market, a Stockholm-based think-tank said on Monday.
India’s imports, accounting for 14 per cent of global arms imports, were three times greater than those of China and Pakistan, it said.
Interestingly, six of the top 10 largest arms importers in the period 2011–15 are in Asia and Oceania. India tops the list with 14 per cent of global arms imports. China ranks second with 4.7%, Australia (3.6 %), Pakistan (3.3%), Vietnam (2.9%) and South Korea (2.6 %).
“A major reason for the high level of imports is that India’s arms industry has so far largely failed to produce competitive indigenously-designed weapons,” it claimed.
The emergence of the US as a major supplier to India is a recent development. The US imports are also growing. They were 11 times higher in 2011–15 than in 2006–10, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report. India was the largest importer of major arms in 2011–15, accounting for 14 per cent of the global total, the report titled ‘Trends in International Arms Transfers’ said.
Between 2006–10 and 2011–15 imports increased by 90 per cent. India was the world’s largest importer of weapons and military equipment in 2013, 2014 and 2015. In 2011–15 India’s imports were three times greater than those of either of its regional rivals: China and Pakistan.
