In the last few years, India has been at the forefront of arms procurement from Russia. However, between 2017 and 2021, Russia's arms exports to India have declined.
Russia's arms exports to India fell from 69 percent between 2012 and 2017 to 46 percent between 2017 and 2021. This is according to a report released on Monday by the International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), a defense think tank based in Stockholm.
Russia declares war on Ukraine on February 24 As a result, the United States and Western nations have imposed significant economic sanctions on Russia. It is against this background that this report has been published. Imports of Russian arms from India have declined by 21 percent between 2012-16 and 2017-21. At the same time, from 2017 to 2021, it has become the largest importer of arms in the world. India accounts for 11 percent of the world's total arms imports, the report said.
Russia exports large quantities of arms to India. Russia has been India's largest exporter from 2012 to 2016 and from 2017 to 2021. However, Russia's arms exports to India have declined by 47 percent in both periods. The SIPRI report states that this was due to the collapse of a large arms program in Russia.
Trying to maintain diversity:
India has stepped up its efforts to diversify its arms suppliers. As a result, India's arms imports from Russia fell from 69 percent to 46 percent, the report said. On the other hand, arms exports from France to India have increased tenfold. Therefore, in 2017-21, France has become the second-largest arms exporter for India.
Why increase arms imports?
The SIPRI report also said that India plans to increase arms imports due to increased threats from China and Pakistan, as well as delays in expanding domestic arms production. However, due to the slow and complicated process of arms procurement in India, India's arms imports have declined.
The decline in arms exports:
Russia's global arms exports fell 26 percent in 2012-16 and 2017-21.
Russia's share of global arms exports has fallen from 24 percent to 19 percent.
- Russia supplied large arms to 45 countries in 2017-21.
Exports to India, China, Egypt, and Algeria account for 73% of Russia's total arms exports.