Import dependence

Changing global environment can increase military risks

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, which tracks global arms transfers, has reported that India remained the world’s biggest arms importer over the past five years (2018-22). With an 11 per cent share of global arms imports, India was ahead of Saudi Arabia (9.6 per cent), Qatar (6.4 per cent), Australia (4.7 per cent), and China (4.6 per cent) in that order. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defence (MoD), in a written reply to Parliament this week, said India’s expenditure on overseas defence procurement had decreased from 46 per cent of the country’s overall expenditure in 2018-19 to 36.7 per cent till December in 2022-23. Unlike China, which balances its large defence-equipment imports with large weapons exports to countries such as Pakistan, India’s defence exports have remained largely flat.

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