Made in China: 81% of Pakistan's weapons still come from Beijing as India diversifies suppliers

Chinese-manufactured weapons accounted for an overwhelming proportion of Pakistan's arms imports over the past five years, think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)'s latest report shows.

In fact, Chinese weapons accounted for 81 per cent of Pakistan's arms imports, an increase of 7 per cent from the previous five-year period ending in 2019.

During this five year period, 2020-2024, Pakistan's arms imports also increased drastically, by a whopping 61 per cent, as the India's neighbour "started to receive deliveriess—including of combat aircraft and frigates—under a large-scale arms procurement programme," the report stated.

This increase has also catapulted Pakistan into the position of the fifth largest arms importer in the world, with Islamabad account for 4.6 per cent of global arms imports during 2020-24.

It should be noted that in all five year periods since 1990-94, China has been the biggest supplier of arms and ammunition to Pakistan, with Beijing's share only growing over the years, a trend observed in this report as well.

Meanwhile India, the world's second-largest arms importer after Ukraine, has an 8.3 per cent share of global arms imports, but unlike Pakistan, seems much less dependent on one particular exporter.

While Russia still accounts for the largest share of Indian arms imports at 36 per cent for 2020-24, data shows that Indian dependence on Russian arms has decreased drastically over the past couple of five year periods: Russia, between 2010-14, accounted for a whopping 72 per cent of Indian arms imports, a figure that subsequently dipped to 55 per cent between 2015-19.

"India is shifting its armssupply relations towards Western suppliers, most notably France, Israel and the USA. Despite recent public declarations from the two sides that relations between India and Russia remain friendly, the shift is also visible in India’s new and planned orders for major arms, most of which will come from Western suppliers," the report noted.