#India Is World’s Largest Importer Of
#Weapons With Insatiable Hunger, While
#Pakistan Slashes
#Arms Imports.
#Modi #BJP
https://www.outlookindia.com/websit...s-with-insatiable-hunger-while-pakista/309385
Report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute spotlights India’s floundering attempts to make firearms in India and growing preference of US over Russia as arms supplier.
India continues to be world’s largest importer for major firearms, an indication that Modi government’s Make In India drive for defence sector has faltered.
A
report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute has found that India was the “world’s largest importer of major arms in 2013–17 and accounted for 12 per cent of the global total”.
The report spotlights India’s floundering attempts to make firearms in India. India has managed to get just Rs 1.17 crore as FDI in the defecne sector under the “Make in India” framework.
“FDI of amount $0.18 million has been received in the defence industry sector from April 2014 to December 2017,” said junior defence minister
Subhash Bhamre, in a
written reply to Lok Sabha recently.
India’s imports increased by 24% between 2008–12 and 2013–17, according to the report and majority of the firearms were sourced from India’s long-time supplier Russia, which accounted for 62 per cent of India’s arms imports in 2013–17.
"Asian and Indian arms procurement in particular are a reflection of the growing security competition in Asia," Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan , a senior fellow at ORF, told
Outlook.
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Surprisingly, India’s long-time foe has slashed its imports despite its tensions with India and internal conflicts.
“Pakistan’s arms imports decreased by 36 per cent between 2008–12 and 2013–17. Pakistan accounted for 2.8 per cent of global arms imports in 2013–17. Its arms imports from the USA dropped by 76 per cent in 2013–17 compared with 2008–12.”