India's arms imports fell 4% between 2016-20 and 2021-25, but the country remains the world's second largest importer of military hardware, accounting for 8.2% of global weapon imports, a Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri) report said.
The report attributed the drop in imports to India's growing ability to design and produce its own weapons, although there are often substantial delays in domestic production.
However, India's recent orders or planned orders, including up to 140 combat aircraft from France and 6 submarines from Germany, indicate its continued and probably increasing reliance on foreign suppliers.
Russia was the top supplier of military hardware to India during 2021-25, but weapons sourced from Russia have dropped significantly over the last 15 years as India diversifies its arms suppliers and boosts self-reliance in the defence manufacturing sector.
India has shifted its arms relations away from Russia towards Western suppliers, especially France, Israel and the United States, said the report.
India was locked in a border dispute with China in eastern Ladakh and launched Operation Sindoor against Pakistan during 2021-25, a period that saw the armed forces make a raft of emergency procurements to stay battle-ready.
