SCIENCENVIRO (Opinion): India has become the world's biggest importer of arms, displacing China

India has become the world's biggest importer of arms, displacing China by accounting for 10 per cent of global arms sales volumes.
Over the past five years, India's imports of major weapons increased by 38 per cent between 2007-11, a Swedish security think tank said with Asia topping other regions in arms imports.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in its new report said that India was closely followed by China and Pakistan whose weapons imports constituted 5 per cent each of global sales.
Pakistan took delivery of "significant numbers of combat aircrafts during this period : 50 JF-17s from China and 30 F-16s from US," SIPRI said.
Due to significant progress in Chinese arms production capabilities, it has become less dependent on arms imports and at the same time has increased the volume of its arms exports. Between 2002–2006 and 2007–11, China fell from being the largest to the fourth largest recipient of major conventional weapons, while the volume of its exports increased by 95 per cent, making it the sixth largest supplier behind the US, Russia, Germany, France and UK.
But "while the volume of China's arms export is increasing, this is largely a result of Pakistan importing more arms from China." Pakistan has a long-term military relationship with China and during 2007–11 it received 64 per cent of the volume of Chinese exports.
According to SIPRI estimates India is likely to spend more than USD 100 billion on weapons and systems in the next 15 years.
The Swedish institute catalogued India's major recent deals as 126 fighter jets and notable deliveries of other combat aircrafts, including 120 Su-30MKs and 16 MIG-29Ks from Russia and 20 Jaguars from UK. Other deals include transport planes, submarines and a range of naval vessels, Tanks, small arms and artillery.

The volume of international transfers of major conventional weapons in the period 2007–11 was 24 per cent higher than in 2002–2006.
The 5 biggest suppliers in 2007–11 were the United States, Russia, Germany, France and the United Kingdom. The top 5 suppliers accounted for 75 per cent of the volume of international arms exports.
The 5 biggest recipients in 2007–11 were India, South Korea, Pakistan, China and Singapore. The top 5 recipients accounted for 30 per cent of the volume of international arms imports.
The main recipient region in 2007–11 was Asia and Oceania (accounting for 44 per cent of imports), followed by Europe (19 per cent), the Middle East (17 per cent), the Americas (11 per cent) and Africa (9 per cent).