India Top Arms Importer

India is the world’s largest arms importer, and it also imports three times as much arms as the second and third largest arms importers – China and Pakistan – according to a report published by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent research tank. UAE and Saudi Arabia stand fourth and fifth on the list. The volume of Indian imports of major weapons rose by 111 per cent between 2004-2008 and 2009-13, and its share of the volume of international arms imports increased from 7 to 14 per cent. The major suppliers of arms to India in 2009-13 were Russia (accounting for 75 per cent of imports) and the United States (7 per cent), which for the first time became the second largest arms supplier to India. The volume of arms transfer has increased 14 times from 2004-08 to 2009-13.