India remains the world’s second-largest importer of major arms, accounting for 8.2 per cent of the global share between 2021 and 2025, despite the Narendra Modi government’s ambitious project of self-reliance in the defence sector.

According to the latest report of the Swedish think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), India was the world’s second-largest importer of arms and military hardware from 2021 to 2025, and the largest chunk of the imports came from Russia (40 per cent), followed by France (29 per cent) and Israel (15 per cent).

Ukraine, which received 9.7 per cent of all weapons transfers during 2021-25, was the largest arms importer, the report said.

The report has highlighted a significant shift in India’s defence procurement strategy over the past decade and how it is increasingly turning to western partners. Traditionally reliant on Russian defence equipment, India has increasingly sourced weapons from western partners, including France and the US, besides Israel.

The data show Russia’s share in Indian arms imports steadily declining.

“Russia’s share of Indian arms imports dropped from 70 per cent in 2011-15 to 51 per cent in 2016-20 and then to 40 per cent in 2021-25,” the report, released on Monday, noted.

The report attributed India’s procurement levels largely to its security challenges from China and Pakistan.

“India was the world’s second-largest recipient of major arms in 2021-25 with an 8.2 per cent share of total global arms imports. Its arms imports are driven by its tensions with both China and Pakistan,” the SIPRI report said.

“These tensions have regularly led to armed conflict, as they did briefly between India and Pakistan in May 2025, with both sides using imported major arms,” it added.

The report also noted that even as India sought to boost domestic manufacturing, the country continued to rely heavily on overseas suppliers for several high-end defence systems.

Despite remaining the world’s second-biggest importer, India’s purchases declined slightly compared with the previous five-year period, the report said.

“Indian arms imports fell by 4 per cent between 2016-20 and 2021-25. The decrease can be partly attributed to India’s growing ability to design and produce its own weapons — although there are often substantial delays in domestic production,” it stated.

“Arms imports by Pakistan grew by 66 per cent between 2016-20 and 2021-25. China supplied 80 per cent of Pakistan’s arms imports in 2021-25, up from 73 per cent in 2016-20,” the report noted.

Four states in Asia and Oceania — India, Pakistan, Japan and Australia — ranked among the 10 largest arms importers globally in 2021-25.

The main supplier to the region in 2021-25 was the US, which accounted for 35 per cent of regional arms imports. Russia accounted for another 17 per cent and China for 14 per cent.

The US has further cemented its dominance as an arms supplier, even in an increasingly multipolar world, said Pieter Wezeman, senior researcher with the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.

The US remained the largest arms exporter, accounting for 42 per cent of global exports, followed by France with 9.8 per cent and Russia with 6.8 per cent.

“While tensions and conflicts in Asia and Oceania and the Middle East continue to drive large-scale arms imports, the sharp increase in arms flows to European states pushed global arms transfers up almost 10 per cent,” said Mathew George, director of the SIPRI Arms Transfers Programme.

States in Europe more than tripled their arms imports, making it the biggest recipient region, the report said.