Since Narendra Modi came to power, it has made considerable progress in terms of military power. Not only that, but to reduce foreign dependence on military weapons, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the need to manufacture weapons on Indian soil through the slogans of ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and ‘Make in India’.

India’s position on arms imports

To realize Prime Minister Modi’s dream, the Ministry of Defense has made huge cuts in the import of arms and military equipment from abroad in the last few years. However, information published in international reports says that the amount of military weapons imported by war-torn Ukraine in the last four years is close to that amount.

A report by the Swedish defense research organization ‘Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’ (SIPRI) says that 8.3 percent of the total arms purchased in the world between 2020 and 2024 was purchased by India. On the other hand, war-torn Ukraine is at the top of the world by importing 8.9 percent of weapons between 2020 and 2024.

This report also proves that Russia is India’s first choice for weapons imports so far. According to the calculations, India imported the most weapons from Putin’s country during the period 2020-2024, which is 38% in percentage terms. Apart from Russia, Israel (34 percent) and France (28 percent) are in second and third place respectively in terms of arms exports to India.

On the other hand, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan are in third, fourth and fifth place respectively in the list of 162 countries in the world in terms of arms imports. This report also makes it clear that Pakistan’s ‘love’ for weapons has not diminished at all even in the difficult economic situation. Pakistan’s ‘contribution’ in global arms imports between 2020-2024 is 5.3 percent.