India on path of self reliance, needn’t be bothered by SIPRI Reports etc, Russia our closest friend
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI, France has displaced US as India’s second largest arms supplier while half of China’s arms exports went to Pakistan
Russia will continue to to be the largest arms supplier to India till we become totally self reliant. Also on this account neither the Govt of India, the Armed Forces or the people of India are not bothered by such reports prepared by agencies like SIPRI.
India feels no hesitation in importing arms from our time tested and reliable partner the Russians. Imports are also made from USA of those items not available elsewhere and which USA is willing to sell without attaching strings.
It is a fact that Russian share in New Delhi’s total arms imports has come down to 45 percent during the period 2018-2022 from 64 percent earlier, according to the latest data on international transfers of major arms by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). SIPRI may be an independent international institute carrying out research into conflict, armaments, arms control and disarmament. However the way their report has been interpreted / presented just stinks.
Import from Russian has reduced due to our progress in ATMANIRBHARTA and thus our overall reduction in imports. Also after collapse of Soviet Union we had to perforce diversify our imports. France and Israel became source of collaboration and imports other than Russia.
USA on the other hand has some cutting edge technology which we do require.However either due to high cost or attachment of Strings, India has only bought a few essential items but never at the cost Russia as SIPRI wants to tell the rest of the World…..India is not bothered.
According to the SIPRI data, which was released Monday, India continues to be the world’s largest arms importer and the largest recipient of Russian arms. The report also noted that the demand for arms in India is on a rise due to the ongoing tensions with China and Pakistan……Well India is not a recipient of Russian arms, we buy what we need after a lot of deliberation and we pay in hard cash. we also pay others specially the USA in hard cash. India does not take aid. Also now Indian Armed Forces are not bothered by Pakistan, they are just minor irritant.
“India’s tensions with Pakistan and China largely drive its demand for arms imports. With an 11 per cent share of total global arms imports, India was the world’s biggest importer of major arms in 2018–22, a position it has held for the period 1993–2022,” said the report titled ‘Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2022’……. All trash.
Even if there is no tension, India as a rising economic and military power of the World and so has to spend on modernization of its Armed Forces. Also needs of our quite large Armed Forces and expanding has been increasing. Presently our own manufacturing in spite of ATMANIRBHARTA cannot meet all the requirements at once because of sheer volume. Hence the large imports.
Though report also says that imports of weaponry by India from Russia, France, the US and others have slowed down by 11 per cent in 2018-22 compared to 2013-2017. This is mainly because of the government’s ‘Atmanirbhar’ or self-reliance mission in defence manufacturing. However SIPRI has Cleverly added the “ slow and complex arms procurement process and efforts to diversify its arms suppliers” also as a factor.
They should know that what India wants, it gets it no matter what CATSA / Sanctions are imposed by any Country big or small.
The five largest arms importers of the world in 2018–22 were India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Australia and China. Together, these five countries accounted for 36 per cent of the world’s arms imports, said SIPRI. During the period 2018-22, US, Russia, France, China and Germany emerged as the top five arms exporters to the world. US and French arms exports rose between 2013–17 and 2018–22, while Russian, Chinese and German arms exports fell,” said SIPRI.
Siemon T. Wezeman, Senior Researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme, said: “It is likely that the invasion of Ukraine will further limit Russia’s arms exports. This is because Russia will prioritize supplying its armed forces and demand from other states will remain low due to trade sanctions on Russia and increasing pressure from the USA and its allies not to buy Russian arms.”…..all bunkum as far as India is concerned.
According to SIPRI’s research, China accounted for 5.2 per cent of total global arms exports in 2018–22. But Beijing’s arms exports decreased by 23 percent between 2013–17 and 2018–22. In this period India’s arms exports have been increasing and reached nearly 12000 Crores for year 2022. This has not been highlighted by SIPRI in a similar manner.
“The vast majority of Chinese arms exports (80 per cent) went to states in Asia and Oceania. China delivered major arms to 46 states in 2018–22, but over half of its arms exports (54 per cent) went to just one state—Pakistan,” the report said.
Arms imports by Pakistan increased by 14 per cent between 2013–17 and 2018–22 and accounted for 3.7 per cent of the total. China supplied over three quarters (77 per cent) of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2018–22, the report showed.
It also noted that China is increasingly becoming “less reliant” on Russian imports owing to the ramping up of domestic production in that country of advanced major arms.
The SIPRI report also noted that Ukraine, which imported a handful of arms between 1991 to 2021-end, turned out to be the world’s third largest arms importer due to the war, which began in February 2022….they forgot to add that most of the weapons have been supplied to just prop the regime.
“From 1991 until the end of 2021, Ukraine imported a few major arms. As a result of military aid from the USA and many European states following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine became the 3rd biggest importer of major arms during 2022 (after Qatar and India) and the 14th biggest for 2018–22. Ukraine accounted for 2.0 per cent of global arms imports in the five-year period,” it said.
“Due to concerns about how the supply of combat aircraft and long-range missiles could further escalate the war in Ukraine, NATO states declined Ukraine’s requests for them in 2022. At the same time, they supplied such arms to other states involved in conflict, particularly in the Middle East and South Asia,” said Wezeman.
