UAE, India, China Largest Arms Importers

By IOL South Asia correspondent

NEW DELHI, August 17 (IslamOnline) - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ranked first among developing countries importing arms during 1998-2001, India and China tailed behind.

UAE purchased $10.8 billion worth of arms, India $7.2 billion and China, the third largest importer, shelled out $6.7 billion during this period according to a report just released by the United States Congressional Research Service (CRS).

The CRS says that global arms sales to developing nations in 2001 fell by approximately 43 per cent to $15.9 billion compared with $28 billion in 2000. "Most recently," the report recalls, "many developing nations have curtailed their expenditures on weaponry primarily due to their limited financial resources" and "the tenuous state of the global economy."

The U.S. led arms sales to developing countries in 2001, making agreements worth approximately $6.9 billion, down from $12.9 billion in 2000, followed by Russia with $5.7 billion, down from $8.3 billion, France with $400 million, down from $2.1 billion, and China with $600 million, down from $624 million. Russia exported mainly to India and China.

In 2000, conventional arms sales to developing nations totaled 40,039 million dollars, compared with sales of 35,488 million dollars in 1999, 31,222 million dollars in 1998, and 25,426 million dollars in 1997.

''To meet their military requirements, in current circumstances, a number of developing nations have placed a greater emphasis on upgrading existing weapons systems while deferring purchases of new and costlier ones,'' the report said.

India has become the third largest arms importer in the world. With several major military hardware and software deals with the US, Russia, Israel and France, among others, in the pipeline, India could well attain the second rank in the coming years.

Indian Defence Minister George Fernandes, replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament) on July 14 said that the 2001 yearbook of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said India was the sixth largest importer of armaments.

The 2002 yearbook of SIPRI, however, said that arms imports by India increased by 50 per cent over the last year, making it the ‘‘third largest recipient’’ of arms in 2001.

India has concluded major weapons deals with Russia, France and Israel over the past few years. SIPRI's yearbook for 2002 ranked India as the world's "third largest" arms importer in 2001. It said India's arms imports increased by 50 per cent during the past year.

After a decade of suppressed military spending, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee has upped the outlay for defence to speed up modernisation of India's armed forces.

India's defence budget for 2002-03 was pegged at Rs 650 billion, with a third of the allocation set aside for new arms purchases.

The shopping list of the Indian armed forces is believed to include Israeli Phalcon airborne warning and control systems (AWACS), advanced jet trainers, multi-barrel rocket launchers, a refurbished Russian aircraft carrier and hi-tech radars and surveillance systems to monitor the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir.

SIPRI estimated world military expenditure in 2001 at $839 billion. China, regarded with suspicion by New Delhi for its efforts to modernise its armed forces, was the largest arms importer in 2001 with a 44 per cent increase in defence purchases.

Over the past two years, India has concluded multi-billion dollar deals with France and Russia to acquire 10 Mirage 2000 and 50 Su-30MKI jets respectively. It has signed a separate deal with Russia to build 140 Su-30MKI jets under license over the next two decades.

It has signed a $780 million deal with Russia to acquire 310 T-90S tanks and is in advanced negotiations with France to purchase six Scorpene submarines, some of which are likely to be built by a state-owned shipyard in Mumbai.

In addition to these imports, India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is engaged in indigenous development of weapons and systems to be built in State-owned ordnance factories and undertakings.