Saudi Arabia tops India as world’s biggest arms importer: Report

‘Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has topped India to become the largest arms importer in the world over the last year, a report says.

The kingdom’s military spending jumped 54 percent to USD 6.5 billion in 2014, while India imported USD 5.8 billion worth of weapons, said a Sunday report by IHS Inc, a leading analyst of the global arms trade.

“Growth in Saudi Arabia has been dramatic and, based on previous orders, these numbers are not going to slow down,” said Ben Moores, the report’s author, adding, “You’re seeing political fractures across the region, and at the same time you’ve got oil, which allows countries to arm themselves.”‘

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