Russia Remains India's Primary Arms Supplier But Imports Plunge Sharply
ABP NewsRussia is still India’s primary source of weapons even as the country has drastically trimmed purchases, according to report by news agency Bloomberg. Arms and ammunitions imports from Russia declined by 19 per cent for the five year period starting 2018 compared to a present time frame, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent think tank which studies conflict, weapon sales and disarmament. According to the latest report released on Monday, "Russia was the largest supplier of arms to India in both 2013–17 and 2018–22, but its share of total Indian arms imports fell from 64 per cent to 45 per cent." India has been the world’s largest arms importer since 1993 and “tensions with Pakistan and China largely drive its demand for arms imports,” the report added. Sanctions on Russia, affecting weapons exports, increased defence equipment manufacturing in India, and increased competition from countries like France — that has seen its arms exports to New Delhi jump a whopping 489 per cent over the same period — leading to the drop in purchases from Moscow, the SIPRI report added.