New Delhi. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SRIPI) has given the latest report on global arms sales. It says that India is still supplying 48 percent of its defense material from Russia but India’s dependence on Russia is decreasing. At the same time, India is now buying 24 percent of its weapons from France. India is now the second largest arms buyer worldwide and Ukraine has reached the first position. The Sripi report says that India has become disillusioned with Russia and New Delhi has increasingly turned towards Western countries.
France, which was the second largest supplier of major weapons in 2021-2025, has now become India’s largest buyer. In the same time frame, India still remains Russia’s largest buyer (48 percent). After India, China (13 percent) is buying the most Russian arms while Belarus (13 percent) is at third place in terms of purchasing Russian arms.
The Scrip report shows that 48 percent of India’s total imports still come from Russia, but it is less than before. India is now looking towards France (24 per cent) and other western countries. Apart from this, Pakistan has become completely dependent on China for its weapons. Pakistan is dependent on China for more than 80 percent arms supply. Which creates a situation of a two front war against India. At the same time, Ukraine has now become the world’s largest arms importer (9.7 percent), while the US remains the world’s largest exporter (42 percent share).
The Scripps report showed that Ukraine accounted for just 0.1 percent of the world’s total arms imports between 2016-20. But now (2021-25) it has become the world’s number 1 arms purchasing country with 9.7 percent. It shows how war turned a country into the biggest arms market. America remains the world’s largest arms exporter. Only America sells 42 percent of the world’s total weapons. America’s arms exports have increased by 27 percent in the last 5 years. Arms import into Europe has increased by 210 percent in the last 5 years. This is the biggest military movement since World War II. The fear of European countries has increased due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Countries like Poland, Germany and Norway are now spending a large part of their GDP on defence. The US, Germany and Britain remain Ukraine’s main suppliers, selling it air defense systems, tanks and missiles.
