India and Pakistan

DSEi

India and Pakistan were invited to DSEi in 1999 and 2001, and have both received official invitations for 2003. They will be shopping for equipment to target at each other and there will be a host of companies falling over themselves to provide it. In addition, Pakistan Ordnance Factory will be exhibiting its array of small arms and ammunition. Despite the conflict between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, a nuclear arms race, and a military regime taking power in Pakistan, there is nothing exceptional about their attendance at the exhibition. The arms market does not thrive on peace and stability.

The main suppliers

Both India and Pakistan are highly dependent on arms imports and usually rank amongst the highest 15 importers.¹

Though India still purchases most of its advanced weapons systems from Russia, it aspires to have a strong indigenous arms industry and increasingly produces the major systems under licence in India. Israel has become an important supplier, with weapon sales of around $1.5-$2 billion each year compared to over $2 billion worth from Russia.² Other major suppliers to India include France, Germany and the UK. India's arms exports are tiny in comparison to its imports, though it has recently announced that it is aiming for a significant increase this year, to $20m-worth. It has also said it will soon begin selling missiles to 'friendly countries.'³

Pakistan purchases most of its equipment from China, though the US and France have also been traditional suppliers. It has a less advanced military industrial base than India, focussed on the assembly and modification of major weapons and the production of small arms and ammunition.⁴ At the IDEAS 2000 exhibition in Pakistan, General Musharraf called for 'aggressive marketing' by the new state-owned arms industry to increase its arms exports.⁵ Asked by journalists about which countries they wouldn't sell to, the show organiser said, 'I don't think we have a problem on that score. Maybe Israel we wouldn't like to sell weapons to'.⁶

UK exports

The UK government has guidelines that should stop arms being sold into conflict situations (see page 13) but do not. While ministers and the Prime Minister publicly called for calm and negotiations in response to a dramatic deterioration in relations between India and Pakistan during 2001, the sales drive continued and the value of arms exports increased (see table below). Over the past three years UK delegations and companies have continued to attend arms fairs in both India and Pakistan,⁷ and government ministers have unashamedly and frequently been trying to persuade the Indian government to purchase a billion pounds worth of Hawk jets from BAE Systems, a deal that is once again said to be imminent. Past UK exports to Pakistan have included small arms production equipment, of particular concern given Pakistan's willingness to export around the world.

1 SIPRI Yearbook 2002
2 Defense News, 'Israel may become India's top source',10.3.03
3 David Isenberg, 'India aims high for arms exports', Asia Times Online, 2.6.03 (www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/EF03Df08.html)
4 SIPRI Yearbook 2002
5 Jane's Defence Weekly, Pakistan sets up export bureau to boost sales', 29.11.00
6 Guardian, 'Pakistan enters arms market', 7.11.00
7 www.pakdef.info/ideas2002/; www.ukinindia.com/press/commercial/com_01.asp; www.ukinindia.org/ministerial/lordbach/press/press_01.asp; all accessed 22.8.03
8 Strategic Export Controls Annual Reports for 2000, 2001 and 2002