SIPRL Report: India emerged as the Largest Importer of Arms in the World

As per the report released by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRL) on 19 March 2012, India emerged as the world’s largest importer of arms in 2007-2011. In fact, India accounted for 10 percent of global arms imports between 2007 to 2011. The report stated that India took several measures to modernize its armed forces and signed many deals to procure military hardware. The major deals included 10 C-17 strategic lift aircraft, additional Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jets and six C-130 Super Hercules Special Operations aircraft.

The report mentioned that in 2002-2006, China was the largest importer of arms. It is now placed at fourth position. Chinese arms industry showed improvements, which resulted in the decline of Chinese imports. The report further added that the top five global arms importer were from the Asia and Oceania.