War, conflict fuel arms imports to Middle East, Asia: Study
Channel NewsAsia, March 12, 2018
The
Middle East accounted for 32 per cent of all arms imports worldwide.
 |
| Saudi Arabia is the world's second largest importer of arms after India, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. (AFP/MOHAMMED HUWAIS) |
STOCKHOLM:
Weapons imports to the Middle East and Asia have boomed over the past five
years, fuelled by war and tensions in those regions, a new study showed on
Monday (Mar 12).
In the
period between 2013 and 2017, arms imports to the conflict-ridden Middle East
more than doubled, jumping by 103 per cent compared with the previous five-year
period, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)
calculated.
And the
Middle East accounted for 32 per cent of all arms imports worldwide.
SIPRI, an
independent institute, monitors arms deliveries by volume over periods of five
years in order to iron out short-term fluctuations.
Saudi
Arabia - which is waging a war against Shiite Houthi rebels backed by its
regional rival Iran - is the world's second largest importer of arms after
India, SIPRI said.
The United
States accounts for 61 per cent of arms imports to Saudi Arabia and Britain for
23 per cent.
On
Friday, Britain signed a preliminary multi-billion-pound order from Saudi
Arabia for 48 Eurofighter Typhoon fighter jets, military equipment maker BAE
Systems announced.
The deal
sparked heated debate and protests in the UK where the NGO, Save the Children,
placed a life-size statue of a child near parliament "to draw attention to
the violence that is being fuelled, in part, by British-made bombs."
"Widespread
violent conflict in the Middle East and concerns about human rights have led to
political debate in Western Europe and North America about restricting arms
sales," said senior SIPRI researcher Pieter Wezeman.
"Yet
the US and European states remain the main arms exporters to the region and
supplied over 98 percent of weapons imported by Saudi Arabia."
Growing demand in India
Nevertheless,
Asia and Oceania was the biggest region for arms imports, accounting for 42 per
cent of the global total between 2013 and 2017, the institute calculated.
And India
was the world's largest weapons importer, with Russia its main supplier
accounting for 62 per cent of its imports.
At the
same time, arms deliveries to India from the US, the world's top weapons
exporter, increased more than six-fold in the five-year period, SIPRI
calculated.
"The
tensions between India, on the one side, and Pakistan and China, on the other,
are fuelling India's growing demand for major weapons, which it remains unable
to produce itself," another SIPRI researcher Siemon Wezeman said.
"China,
by contrast, is becoming increasingly capable of producing its own weapons and
continues to strengthen its relations with Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar
through arms supplies," he added.
Beijing,
whose weapons exports rose by 38 per cent in the five-year period, is the main
arms supplier for Myanmar, accounting for 68 per cent of imports.
It also
accounted for 71 per cent of weapons imports to Bangladesh and for 70 per cent
of imports to India's nuclear-armed rival, Pakistan.
Myanmar's
violence against the Rohingya Muslim minority has caused some 700,000 of the
people to flee over the border to Bangladesh since August, taking with them
horrifying testimony of murder, rape and arson by soldiers and vigilante mobs.
The
atrocities have triggered international condemnations, including EU and US
sanctions, against Myanmar.
