According to IHS Jane’s, East Asia’s arms imports increased by one-fourth in 2013. India’s increased by $1.8 billion.
Arms imports in the Asia-Pacific surged in 2013, according to a new report.
IHS has released its second annual Balance of Trade report covering the year of 2013. IHS’s data show that imports from East Asia surged nearly 25 percent last year, from $9.8 billion in 2012 to $12.2 billion in 2013.
Meanwhile, IHS reports that “Exports to South, West, and Central Asia rose from USD7.8 billion in 2012 up to USD8.8 billion in 2013.” This export increase was driven primarily by India’s imports rising by $1.8 billion, with many of the additional weapons coming from the United States, including the Boeing P-8 Poseidon maritime surveillance aircraft.
On the other hand, Pakistan’s imports declined by $200 million, from $1.5 billion in 2012 to $1.3 billion in 2013. About 25 percent of this $1.3 billion was in the form of China’s deliveries of the CAC JF-17 fighter to Pakistan. Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) indicate that China was the source of 54 percent of Pakistan’s arms imports between the years of 2009 and 2013. Beijing also sold Bangladesh an astonishing 82 percent of all its foreign weaponry during the same period. For 2012, IHS Jane’s estimates Bangladesh imported about $350 million worth of arms from China.
Read the full story at The Diplomat