India was world’s second-largest weapons importer in 2024: Report

India was the world’s second-largest importer of major arms in 2024, with an 8.3% share of global imports, reported The Print on Tuesday, citing a new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, or SIPRI. India was replaced at the top by Ukraine, which accounted for 8.8% of global imports between 2020 and 2024.

Ukraine’s arms imports surged nearly a hundredfold compared to the period between 2015 and 2019, as over 35 countries sent it weapons after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.

“Most of the major arms supplied to Ukraine came from the USA (45%), followed by Germany (12%), and Poland (11%),” the report stated. “Ukraine was the only European state among the top 10 importers in 2020–24, although many other European states significantly increased their arms imports in the period.”

India’s arms imports declined by 9.3% between 2015-’19 and 2020-’24, partly due to its growing domestic weapons manufacturing capability. “Despite recent public declarations from the two sides that relations between India and Russia remain friendly, the shift is also visible in India’s new and planned orders for major arms, most of which will come from Western suppliers,” SIPRI stated.

Russia remained India’s largest supplier of weapons, but its share of Indian arms exports fell to 36-38% in 2020-’24, down...

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