AMID SLOWDOWN, ONLY ARMS EXPORT IS RISING

AMID war conditions and a global slump, the one trade which is surging is arms exports.

- GURBIR SINGH

No prizes if you guessed it right. The latest Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) report, released this month in March, reveals arms exports grew 10% globally. It also shows Europe is rearming fast, and that Russia lagged behind.

Despite a small dip of 4% in imports, India remained the world’s second largest arms purchaser with 8.2% of the global share for the last five years 2021-25, compared to the previous 2016-2020 period. The big shift though is the cutback of imports from Russia — to 40%, from 51% for 2016-20. In the reshuffle, Russia’s loss has been France’s gain (29%) and Israel (15%). The SIPRI data shows how the new wars have reshaped the world’s arms flow. Ukraine, which is fighting for its survival against a Russian takeover, became the highest importer of weapons in 2021-25 accounting for 9.7% of the global share. In the earlier 2016-20 period, it was just 0.1%

Europe is rearming

More importantly, the Ukraine war has reshaped the profile of Europe’s arms industry. Post second World War, North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO), led by the United States, was considered Western Europe’s defence umbrella against incursions from the East.

However, with Donald Trump backsliding on Ukraine and Greenland, the math on the ground has changed.