Revision as of 19:47, 15 March 2019

Top 10 importers of arms; Top 10 items of import in the world; Graphic courtesy: The Times of India, June 29, 2016

YEAR-WISE IMPORTS

2005-15: Arms transfers to India and Pakistan

Oct 05 2016: The Times of India

Arms transfers to India and Pakistan, 2005-15, and the countries that the arms were sourced from
Oct 05 2016: The Times of India

See graphic:

Arms transfers to India and Pakistan, 2005-15, and the countries that the arms were sourced from

China [2015] accounted for 77% of Pakistan's arms imports. Not too long ago, the US had 55% share in the country's defence imports. India's import basket is much more diversified.

2010-14:India the biggest importer

2010-14 arms imports by India, Pakistan and other countries in absolute terms and as A share of international arms exports

The Times of India

Mar 17 2015

India remains world's largest arms importer

Rajat Pandit

India continues with its embarrassing trudge on the world stage as the largest arms importer, which also makes it strategically vulnerable. A global think-tank on Monday said India's weapons imports are now three times larger than its neighbours China and Pakistan as well as cash-rich Saudi Arabia and the UAE. The latest data on international arms transfers released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows India accounted for 15% of the global arms imports from 2010 to 2014. “Between 2005-2009 and 2010-2014, India's arms imports increased by 140%. In 2005-2009, India's imports were 23% below China's and just over double those of Pakistan,“ SIPRI said.

India continues to grapple with a fledgling DIB, importing 65% of its military hardware and software. India has spent Rs 1,03,536 crore ($16.72 billion) in direct payments to foreign armament companies in the last five years, while exporting arms worth a paltry Rs 2,644 crore ($426 million) in the same time.

China has surpassed Germany to emerge as the world's third largest arms seller with bulk of exports to Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar, a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute report said on Monday . “Chinese exports of arms increased by 143%, making it the third largest supplier in 2010­14, however still significantly behind US and Russia,“ the report said. Despite the rise, China's share in global arms market remained just 5% while US and Russia accounted for 58%.

2014: Defence Imports of India

India's defence imports 40 times its export basket

Rajat Pandit The Times of India Nov 29 2014

Paid Foreign Vendors Over Rs 1LCr In Last 5 Years: Parrikar

India’s major defence imports in last 5 years

Prime Minister Narendra Modi may want India to start exporting weapons in a major way instead of importing them in large numbers, but it will take a lot of doing. Latest figures show that India's arms imports are a staggering 40 times the size of its exports, and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Defence minister Manohar Parrikar has told Parliament that the total expenditure on “direct payments to foreign vendors for capital acquisitions“ for the army, navy and air force during the last five years stood at Rs 1,03,535 crore ($16.72 billion).

In sharp contrast, as per a written reply in Lok Sabha on Friday , the five defence PSUs, four shipyards and 39 ordnance factories as well as the private sector, all put together managed to export defence equipment worth just a paltry Rs 1,644 crore in the last three years. The figure in the first six months of the ongoing fiscal stands at just Rs 167 crore.

India has the dubious distinction of being the world's largest arms importer due to a stagnant defence-industrial base (DIB), which forces the armed forces to acquire 65% of their requirements from abroad.

The Modi government's rhetoric on the “Make in India“ policy with greater private sector participation in the defence production sector will take several years -if at all it does materialize on the ground. It will need sweeping systemic reforms to revive the country's DIB from its prolonged stupor.

Sources, however, said the defence ministry is now working to “streamline“ the “complicated“ indigenous defence production policy .There is an attempt, for instance, to revive the provision for the government to fund 80% of the development cost of a weapon prototype, with the industry chipping in with 20%, in “high-risk projects“.

The battle has to be fought on two fronts. First, a radical overhaul of the functioning of DRDO, defence PSUs, Ordnance Factory Board and shipyards is needed to ensure they can deliver cutting-edge weapons in a cost-effective and timely manner.

Concomitantly , the private sector has to be encouraged to enter defence pro duction in a major way .“There has to be concrete government support with confirmed orders since defence projects are capital-intensive and have long-gestation periods,“ said an officer.

India will remain strategically vulnerable till it builds a robust DIB since supplies can be choked in times of need. China has assiduously built a strong DIB, making it the world's thirdlargest arms exporter, even though it also remains the third-largest importer.

India also does not get the biggest bang for its buck.There is no concrete planning to build military capabilities, with the three Services continuing to squabble over the limited budgetary pie. Consequently , the armed forces continue to grapple with huge deficiencies in equipment.

2014-18: India No. 2 arms importer

Rajat Pandit, India slips to No. 2 spot on list of arms importers, March 12, 2019: The Times of India

Top six arms importers, 2014-18
From: Rajat Pandit, India slips to No. 2 spot on list of arms importers, March 12, 2019: The Times of India

India has dropped to the second position behind Saudi Arabia among the world’s largest arms importers after remaining at the top for almost a decade, as per the latest data on international arms transfers released by a global think-tank, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), on Monday.

But this may not accurately reflect the actual situation because SIPRI itself says its statistical data on arms transfers “relates to actual deliveries of major conventional weapons”. So, several mega defence deals inked by India, for which the deliveries are yet to begin, have apparently not been considered in the analysis.

These deals range from 36 Rafale fighters for Rs 59,000 crore from France to five squadrons of S-400 Triumf surface-to-air missile systems for Rs 40,000 crore from Russia. While the Rafales will be delivered in the November 2019-April 2022 timeframe, the S-400 squadrons will come between October 2020 and April 2023.

India’s continuance at the top in the global arms import rankings, be it first or second, once again reinforces the persistent failure to build a strong indigenous defence industrial base, which can make the country strategically vulnerable if supplies are choked in times of conflict.

Though the NDA government has pushed the ‘Make in India’ policy to some extent, the fact also remains that no major defence production project in fields ranging from fighters, helicopters and minesweepers to infantry combat vehicles and diesel-electric submarines has actually taken off in the last five years, as was reported earlier by TOI.

“India’s imports decreased by 24% between 2009-2013 and 2014-2018, partly due to delays in deliveries of arms produced under licence from foreign suppliers, such as combat aircraft ordered from Russia and submarines from France,” SIPRI said.

IAF has so far inducted around 250 of the 272 Sukhoi-30MKIs ordered from Russia, with the bulk of them being produced by defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics for over Rs 55,000 crore. The Navy has inducted only one of the six French Scorpene submarines being built at Mazagon Docks for over Rs 23,000 crore. Both the projects are running over three years behind schedule.

In sharp contrast, apart from being the sixth largest arms importer, China has also emerged as the world’s fifth largest exporter by assiduously focusing on indigenous defence production and reverse-engineering of topnotch military technology.

China has become a bigtime exporter of UCAVs (unmanned combat aerial vehicles), supplying 153 of them to 13 countries.

2013-2017: India no.1 importer

Rajat Pandit, March 13, 2018: The Times of India

Military expenditure by India, as in 2018
From: Rajat Pandit, March 13, 2018: The Times of India

HIGHLIGHTS

Arms imports by India increased by 24% between 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 .

India is followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, China, Australia, Algeria, Iraq, Pakistan and Indonesia.

The largest arms suppliers to India from 2013-2017 were Russia (62%), US (15%) and Israel (11%).

Persisting failure to build a robust defence production industry has ensured that India continues to remain in the strategically-vulnerable position of being the world’s largest arms importer, accounting for 12% of the global imports from 2013-2017.

Arms imports by India + increased by 24% between 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 periods, as per data on international arms transfers released by global think-tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

India is followed by Saudi Arabia, Egypt, UAE, China, Australia, Algeria, Iraq, Pakistan and Indonesia as the world’s top arms importers. The largest arms suppliers to India from 2013-2017 were Russia (62%), US (15%) and Israel (11%).

India remains the biggest buyer of weaponry from Russia and Israel. The US, as part of its foreign policy to counter China’s growing influence in Asia has notched up military sales to India — worth $15 billion over the last decade and up by 557% between 2008-2012 and 2013-2017 — to overtake several countries and displace Russia at the top spot for a couple of years.

SIPRI, on its part said, “Arms transfers are often used as a US foreign policy tool to forge new strategic partnerships. As part of its efforts to offset China’s growing influence in Asia and Oceania, for example, the US has strengthened its ties with India, Its arms deliveries to India rose by 557% between 2008-2012 and 2013-2017.”

China, with its systematic drive to build a strong defence-industrial base (DIB) figures among the world’s top-five arms exporters after the US, Russia, France and Germany. They together account for 74% of all arms exports. China’s biggest client are Pakistan, which receives 35% of its exports, and Bangladesh (19%).

India, however, continues to wallow with a fledgling DIB, with the armed forces sourcing 65% of their requirements from abroad.

Successive governments have failed to drastically overhaul the DRDO and its 50 labs, five defence PSUs, four shipyards and 41 ordnance factories to ensure they deliver without huge cost and time overruns.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, speaking at a function on Monday, herself admitted that though defence PSUs and ordnance factories have a lot of potential, they need to be “revived, revitalised and made a lot more dynamic”.

India has also made little headway in getting its private sector to take to defence production in a big way. The NDA government’s much-touted “Make in India” policy with foreign collaboration has also come a cropper, with no major defence production project actually taking off in the last four years.

At least six major mega projects worth Rs 3.5 lakh crore, from fighters and submarines to helicopters and infantry combat vehicles, are stuck at different stages. Similarly, India has attracted just a measly Rs 1.17 crore as foreign direct investment in the defence production sector in the last four years.

2018: China, Pakistan’s imports fall; India’s rise

Defence imports of China, India and Pakistan, 2008-17
The countries that India and Pakistan mainly imported from in 2013-17
From: March 20, 2018: The Times of India

See graphic:

Defence imports of China, India and Pakistan, 2008-17
The countries that India and Pakistan mainly imported from in 2013-17