India’s Arms Imports Down by 33%: SIPRI

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According to a report from a Swedish think tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India’s arms imports decreased by 33% between 2011–15 and 2016–20.

Reasons for drop

• The drop in Indian arms imports seemed to have been the result of complex procurement processes combined with an attempt to reduce its dependence on Russian arms.
• In the last few years, India has taken a series of measures to boost the domestic defence industry to reduce dependence on imported military platforms and hardware.

Key Takeaways of the Report

Global Scenario

• The United States, the world’s largest arms exporter, saw its exports rise.
  •  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.
• Saudi Arabia topped the list of arms importers (11%), followed by India, Egypt (5.8%), Australia (5.1%) and China (4.7%).
• Pakistan was placed at the 10th (2.7%) position.

Indian Scenario

• India’s top three arms suppliers during 2016-2020 were Russia (49%), France (18%) and Israel (13%), followed by the US in fourth place.
• Russia was the most affected supplier, although India’s imports of US arms also fell by 46%.
• Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Mauritius were the top recipients of Indian military hardware.
• India accounted for 9.5% of the total global arms imports during 2016-2020,
  • India accounted for 0.2% of the share of global arms exports during 2016-20, making the country the world’s 24th largest exporter of major arms.
  • This represents an increase of 228% over India’s export share of 0.1 % during the previous five-year period of 2011-15.

Vision of India

•  India is planning large-scale arms imports in the coming years from several suppliers.
  • The latest import data is a clear indicator that the country’s drive towards Atmanirbharta is showing results.

• India’s military imports are likely to grow over the next five years.
  • As India perceives increasing threats from Pakistan and China, it is planning large-scale programmes for arms imports.

• The report on international arms transfers attributed the drop in India’s arms imports mainly to an attempt to reduce its dependence on Russian arms and complex procurement processes.
• India is getting more self-dependent and has taken a raft of measures to cut dependence on imported military hardware.

• India has set aside ?70,221 crore – 63% of the military’s capital budget for 2021-22 for buying locally produced weapons and systems to boost defence indigenisation.
  • The allocation for indigenous procurement — made for the second consecutive year — will power the purchase of Tejas LCA (light combat aircraft) Mk-1A jets, light combat helicopters (LCHs), basic trainer aircraft, Arjun Mk-1A tanks, Astra beyond-visual-range missiles, Pinaka rocket systems and anti-tank missiles.
• The ?48,000-crore contract for 83 LCA Mk-1A jets, awarded to Hindustan Aeronautics Limited last month, is the biggest indigenous defence procurement deal so far.
• India will sign a $2.5-billion contract this year for buying 56 medium transport aircraft for IAF to replace its fleet of ageing Avro-748 planes.