BY : TNN
India and China are among the world's top importers of arms, with Beijing accounting for almost 12 per cent of global weapons and military
equipment import followed by New Delhi with eight per cent, according to a survey by a Stockholm-based think tank.
The report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said bulk of the arms imported by China and India come from Russia with UK also emerging as a major arms supplier to New Delhi. However, SIPRI did not mention supply of arms by another major international weapons player, Israel.
According to SIPRI, even at 12 per cent share, deliveries and orders by China's People Liberation Army decreased significantly in 2007.
Russia supplied 45 per cent of China's arms import while it supplied 22 per cent India's import.
USA, Russia, Germany, France and the UK continue to be the largest arms suppliers accounting for almost 80 per cent of the international arms transfer between 2003-2007, says the report.
The current arms transfer by these five countries has increased by seven per cent compared to the previous four year period, the report adds.
The global military budget totalled USD 1339 billion, corresponding to 2.5 per cent of world's GDP and USD 202 per capita income in the previous year, said a release issued by the think-tank.
India and China are among the world's top importers of arms, with Beijing accounting for almost 12 per cent of global weapons and military
equipment import followed by New Delhi with eight per cent, according to a survey by a Stockholm-based think tank.
The report by Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said bulk of the arms imported by China and India come from Russia with UK also emerging as a major arms supplier to New Delhi. However, SIPRI did not mention supply of arms by another major international weapons player, Israel.
According to SIPRI, even at 12 per cent share, deliveries and orders by China's People Liberation Army decreased significantly in 2007.
Russia supplied 45 per cent of China's arms import while it supplied 22 per cent India's import.
USA, Russia, Germany, France and the UK continue to be the largest arms suppliers accounting for almost 80 per cent of the international arms transfer between 2003-2007, says the report.
The current arms transfer by these five countries has increased by seven per cent compared to the previous four year period, the report adds.
The global military budget totalled USD 1339 billion, corresponding to 2.5 per cent of world's GDP and USD 202 per capita income in the previous year, said a release issued by the think-tank.