Arms Race Heats Up: India's Imports Dip 4% But Stays World's 2nd Largest Buyer; Pakistan Scrambles

India’s arms imports dip 4% but it remains the world’s 2nd-largest buyer after Ukraine, relying on Russia, France & Israel amid domestic production delays and rising security needs.

New Delhi: India continues to occupy a strategically vulnerable position as the world’s second-largest importer of arms, accounting for 8.2% of total global arms imports, second only to Ukraine, which holds 9.7%, according to the latest data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on Monday.

Major Suppliers: Russia Leads, West Gains Ground

According to SIPRI, India’s top arms suppliers are:

• Russia: 40%
• France: 29%
• Israel: 15%

Indian arms imports fell by 4% between 2016–20 and 2021–25.

“The decrease can be partly attributed to India’s growing ability to design and produce its own weapons, although there are often substantial delays in domestic production,” the SIPRI report stated.

Continued Dependence on Foreign Suppliers

Despite the modest decline, India’s recent and planned orders—including up to 140 Rafale fighter jets from France and six submarines from Germany—highlight its continued and possibly increasing reliance on foreign defence suppliers.

Over the past decade, India has increasingly turned to Western suppliers, such as France, the United States, and Israel, for advanced military equipment.

Domestic Challenges: Weak Industrial Base and Strategic Gaps

Apart from India’s relatively weak defence-industrial base, another major challenge is the lack of concrete long-term planning to systematically build military capabilities aligned with the country’s geopolitical aspirations.

Even as India ranks as the world’s fifth-largest defence spender, its armed forces continue to face significant operational shortages, including:

• Fighter aircraft
• Submarines
• Helicopters
• Modern infantry weapons
• Anti-tank guided missiles
• Night-fighting equipment

Pakistan’s Arms Imports Surge

In contrast, Pakistan’s arms imports grew by 66% between 2016–20 and 2021–25.

China supplied 80% of Pakistan’s arms imports during 2021–25, up from 73% in 2016–20, underscoring the deepening defence ties between Islamabad and Beijing.

Global Arms Transfers Spike Due to Ukraine

The increase in global arms flows between 2021–25 was the largest since 2011–15, primarily driven by military aid to Ukraine and rising defence imports across Europe.

“While tensions and conflicts in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East continue to drive large-scale arms imports, the sharp increase in arms flows to European states pushed global arms transfers up almost 10 per cent,” said Mathew George, Director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.

“Deliveries to Ukraine since 2022 are the most obvious factor, but most other European states have also started importing significantly more arms to shore up their military capabilities against a perceived growing threat from Russia.”