Countries like India, Australia, China, South Korea along with Pakistan were the biggest importer of major defence equipment , receiving 42% of global arms transfers in 2016–20, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in a report on Monday.
The United States, France and Germany – three of the world’s biggest exporters – increased deliveries, but falls in exports from Russian and China offset the rise, SIPRI said adding that international deliveries of arms were flat in the period 2016-2020, ending more than a decade of increases
It was the first time since 2001–2005 that the volume of deliveries of major arms between countries – an indicator of demand – did not increase from the previous five-year period, SIPRI said.
While the pandemic has shut down economies across the world and pushed many countries into deep recessions, SIPRI said it was too early to tell whether the slowdown in arms deliveries was likely to continue.
