India remains the world’s largest importer of arms, with Russia serving as its primary source of procurement, despite experiencing a decrease in its share in recent years, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Monday (Mar 11).
During the period spanning from 2019 to 2023, India contributed 9.8 percent to the total global arms imports. Notably, India’s arms imports rose by 4.7 percent between 2014-2018 and 2019-2023, despite the government’s ongoing efforts to bolster domestic defense manufacturing and procurement.
However, Russia’s portion of Indian imports is gradually diminishing. In the examined period, Russia accounted for 36 percent of India’s overall arms imports, marking the first time since the 1960-1964 term that Russia’s share fell below the 50 percent threshold.
This share is anticipated to decrease further as India increasingly turns to France and the United States for military equipment, while Russia grapples with meeting its internal demands amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. France represented 33 percent of India’s total arms imports, while the United States accounted for 13 percent. With India’s direct acquisition of 31 armed MQ-9B Sky Guardian drones from the US for $3.9 billion and 26 Rafale-M fighters from France for $6 billion, the contributions of these two countries are expected to rise in the current five-year period.
Additionally, arms imports by Japan and South Korea, both of which are neighboring countries to China, surged by 155 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively. Experts attribute this trend to concerns over China’s ongoing aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
Siemon Wezeman, a Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme, stated, “There is little doubt that the sustained high levels of arms imports by Japan and other US allies and partners in Asia and Oceania are largely driven by one key factor: concern over China’s ambitions.”
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