India world’s Largest Arms Importer in 2018-22, Reveals SIPRI Data

Fresh data by Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) have revealed that India was the largest importer of arms between 2018 and 2022. This accounts for 11 percent of global imports.

India is followed by Saudi Arabia (9.6%), Qatar (6.4%), Australia (4.7%), China (4.6%), Egypt (4.5%), South Korea (3.7%) and Pakistan (3.7%) among the top 10 arms importers.

According to reports, the data is a part of SIPRI’s Trends in International Arms Transfers 2022 report which was released Monday.  The report said that India received 31 percent of the total arms exported by Russia during this time frame.

Nevertheless, arms exports from Russia decreased by 37 percent as compared to the 2013-2017 period.

Meanwhile, arms transfer to China was regarded as 23 percent of Russian arms exports between 2018 and 2022.

Consequently, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, Kyiv appeared to be the third-largest importer of arms in 2022.

It is to be mentioned that before the war Ukraine was the 14^th largest arms importer in the world between 2018-2022.

Moreover, data released by SIPRI highlighted the “all-weather friendship” between Pakistan and China. According to its data, China accounted for 77 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports in the 2018-2022 period, reflecting the extent to which Islamabad is dependent on Beijing for its military needs.

SIPRI identified India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia and China as the top five arms importers in 2018–22, accounting for 36 percent of global arms imports during this period. India’s share globally was 11 percent followed by Saudi Arabia with 9.6 percent and Qatar with 6.4 per cent.

SIPRI recognized the countries, the US, Russia, France, China, and Germany as the five biggest arms exporters. The data revealed that the five countries alone accounted for 76 percent of global arms transfers between 2018 and 2022.  At the same time, the US had a lion’s share that accounts for 40 percent with countries in the Middle East receiving 41 percent of the arms exported by it in the particular period.

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