NEW DELHI: India stood second in the list of importing major arms in theyears 2014-18 and accounted for 9.5 percent of the global total. India hasbeen among the top five arms importers in the world for decades, accordingto an annual report titled ‘Trends in International Arms Transfers-2018’released by a Sweden-based think tank Stockholm International PeaceResearch Institute (SIPRI).

The assessment was done for a five-year period (2014-2018).

It says, “India was the world’s second largest importer of major arms in2014-18 and accounted for 9.5 per cent of the global total.”

For the period 2013-2017, India was the world s largest arms importer byaccounting for 13 percent of all imports.

Israel, US and France all increased their arms exports to India in 2014-18.