Russia continues to be India's top arms supplier, even as import dips

Russia remains India's main arms supplier despite New Delhi's significant reduction in purchases. This highlights Prime Minister Narendra Modi's difficulty in adjusting to New Delhi's dependence on Moscow, while its borders with China and Pakistan remain uneasy.

Russia's arms imports fell 19 percent in the five years starting in 2018 compared to the same period earlier, according to a report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, an independent think tank that studies conflicts, arms sales, and disarmament.

"Russia was India's largest arms supplier in both 2013-17 and 2018-22, but its share of India's total arms imports has fallen from 64 percent to 45 percent," mentioned a report on Monday.

The report states that India has been the world's largest arms importer since 1993 and "tensions with Pakistan and China largely drive its demand for arms imports."

Sanctions against Russia, which affect arms exports, increased production of defense equipment in India and increased competition from countries such as France, which saw a whopping 489 percent increase in arms exports to Delhi over the same period, contributed to the drop in purchases. from Moscow, the SIPRI report added.

Despite criticism from nations such as the US, Japan and Australia, one of the reasons New Delhi is taking a neutral stance on Vladimir Putin's conflict in Ukraine is India's dependence on Russian arms.

Although it supported calls for a ceasefire and a diplomatic solution to end Russia's war, the South Asian country abstained from voting at the United Nations on resolutions condemning the Russian invasion. In addition, the nation continues to buy cheap Russian oil.