Context: Amid the government’s push to promote indigenous defence equipment, a report by Stockholm-based defence think-tank SIPRI claimed that India’s import of arms decreased by 33 per cent between 2011-15 and 2016-20, and Russia was the most affected supplier.

Key highlights

• The arms exports by Russia, which accounted for 20% of all exports of major arms in 2016–20, dropped by 22%.
• The exports by China, the world’s fifth largest arms exporter in 2016-20, fell 7.8% between 2011-15 and 2016-20.
• China accounted for 74% of Pakistan’s military imports during the last five years, which is an increase from 61% in 2011-15.
• The United States, world’s largest arms exporter, saw its global share of exports went up from 32% to 37% between 2011-15 and 2016-20.
• The five largest arms exporters in 2016-20 were the US, Russia, France, Germany and China, while the top importers were Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and China.

Exports by China decrease by 7.8%

• The report said exports by China decreased by 7.8% between 2011-15 and 2016-20.
• Chinese arms exports accounted for 5.2% of total arms exports in 2016-20. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Algeria were the largest recipients of Chinese arms, it added.

India and SIPRI Report

• The report attributed the drop in India’s arms imports mainly to an attempt to reduce its dependence on Russian arms and complex procurement processes.
• Russia was the most affected supplier for India and India’s imports of US arms also fell by 46%.
• India is planning large-scale arms imports in the coming years from several suppliers.
• The report highlighted that India’s top three arms suppliers during 2016-20 were Russia (accounting for 49% of India’s imports), France (18%) and Israel (13%).

India accounted for 0.2% of the share of global arms exports during 2016-20.

• It implies that India is the world’s 24th largest exporter of major arms.

It represents an increase of 228% over India’s export share of 0.1 % during the previous five-year period of 2011-15.

• The report highlights that Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Mauritius were the top recipients of Indian military hardware.

Additional Facts
About Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

• This think tank is an independent international institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament.
• It was established in 1966 at Stockholm (Sweden).
• It provides data, analysis and recommendations, based on open sources, to policymakers, researchers, media and the interested public.