A report on global arms transfers in 2014 has revealed the countries that export weapons to Pakistan and India, considered to be among the top 10 weapons importers in the world.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute released its data on global arms transfers in 2014, providing some of the best publicly available information on the supply of weapons between countries.
According to the institute, the United States, Russia, France, Italy,Sweden, Ukraine and Brazil are supplying to both India and Pakistan let alone one of the rival neighboring countries.
The US is believed to supply arms to both countries as it is politically supportive of India but depends on Pakistan as a counter-terrorism partner, according to Business Insider.
The other two arms industry giants France and Russia see the advantages of cultivating a market in the two countries.
However, not all major arms exporters are willing to sell to both sides.
Data shows Turkey, Serbia, China and Jordan supply weapons solely to Pakistan and not India. Canada, Spain, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Israel, Kyrgyzstan and South Korea only provide weapons to India and not Pakistan.
However, Pakistan is now the world’s leading purchaser of Chinese weapons. According to Business Insider, China sees the Indian Ocean as a potential strategic frontier, and is suspected of planning to build a network of military and commercial ports that would encircle India. China and India also have a number of outstanding territorial disputes believed to be the reason it doesn’t supply weapons to India.
However, interestingly, Germany, which is the world’s 4th-largest exporter, only sells to India.
Trade between India and Germany tripled between 2002 and 2012.