India is the second largest importer of weapons in the world, as per the annual report ‘Trends in International Arms Transfers-2018’ by the think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
According to the release, Saudi Arabia displaces India as world’s largest importer of weapons. After maintaining its position of world’s largest arms importer for about 8 years, India dropped down to be the second largest importer of weapons during 2014-18. Saudi Arabia is now the world’s largest weapons importer. India accounted for 9.5 percent of the global total imports during 2014-18, while Saudi Arabia accounted for 12 percent of the total imports during the period.
Key highlights of report are that the volume of international transfers of major arms across the world in 2014-18 was 7.8 percent higher than in 2009-13; and 23 percent higher than in 2004-2008. The five largest exporters in 2014-18 were the United States, Russia, France, Germany and China, together accounting for 75 percent of the total volume of arms exports in 2014-18. The US and Russia remain the largest exporters by far, accounting for 36 percent and 21 percent of the total global trade, respectively. Arms exports by Russia decreased by 17 percent between 2009–13 and 2014–18, in particular due to the reduction in arms imports by India and Venezuela.
