India was world's largest arms importer from 1990 to 2019: SIPRI report

December 30, 2020

India was world's largest arms importer from 1990 to 2019: SIPRI report
According to the SIPRI report, Russia has been a significant contributor to India's defence needs. Russia exported 56 per cent of weapons to India, compared to 72 per cent in 2010-14.

Publish Date: Fri, 11 Dec 2020 10:50 AM IST

New Delhi | Jagran News Desk: India buys the most defence arms globally (1990-2019), followed by Saudi Arabia and China. At the same time, India is at the 38th position in arms exports (1990-2019). Countries like Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Mauritius buy weapons from India. At the same time, America supplies the most weapons to the world. Russia ranks second in terms of arms exports. This has been revealed in the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) Arms Transfers Database.

According to the report released by SIPRI, Russia has been a significant contributor to India's defence needs. Russia exported 56 per cent of weapons to India, compared to 72 per cent in 2010-14. As a result, between 2014 and 2019, imports from Israel and France increased. However, the Russian share in Indian imports is likely to grow rapidly during the next five-year period. India has recently signed several major defence deals, and several are in the pipeline.