India Arms Imports Drop 33 Per Cent: SIPRI

By Shakir Husain NEW DELHI, March 16 (Bernama) -- India's arms imports fell 33 per cent in the period 2016-2020, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The Swedish arms watchdog attributed the drop in Indian weapons imports from 2011-2015 mainly to "its complex procurement processes, combined with an attempt to reduce its dependence on Russian arms." While Russia was the most affected supplier, India's imports of US arms also fell by 46 per cent, SIPRI said in a report on Monday. Russian exports accounted for 20 per cent of global weapons transfers in 2016–2020 but the second-largest supplier saw a drop of 22 per cent in its sales. Around 90 per cent of this decrease was due to a 53 per cent fall in its arms exports to India, SIPRI said. The US remains the world's biggest supplier of weapons, with Middle Eastern countries buying almost half of them. France, the world's third-largest arms exporter, increased its sales by 44 per cent as India, Egypt and Qatar received 59 per cent of its supplies in 2016-20, SIPRI said. -- BERNAMA