India emerges as worlds largest arms importer

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India emerges as worlds largest arms importer

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A research revealed that India accounted for 9 percent of all weapon imports between 2006 and 2010.

14 March,2011 09:21 am

In India, where majority of the people live below the poverty line, has overtaken China to become the world’s largest importer of weapons, reveals a research by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.Indias arms import delivery volumes jumped 21 percent from the prior five-year-period, with aircraft accounting for 71 percent of its imports. They have bought 82 percent of their weapons from Russia. With a US$ 32.5billion defence budget, India now imports more than 70 percent of its arms.China was in second place with 6 percent of all weapon imports. The country dropped from the top spots because they are focusing on their domestic weapons industry.Pakistan stood at number three in importing weapons and its weapons import has increased by 128 percent in the past five years. The United States was the largest arms exporter, followed by Russia and Germany, according to the report.