One of the first tasks before Rajnath Singh, who took over as Defence Minister on Saturday noon, is setting in place a new team, both civilian and military, under him. AdvertisingThe top-most bureaucrat in the ministry, Defence Secretary Sanjay Mitra, is on an extension of three months till August. With political heavyweight Amit Shah as Home Minister and the well-respected S Jaishankar as External Affairs Minister, Rajnath would have to establish working equations with them. As a former defence minister, Sitharaman may not need convincing but the declining GDP growth rate may tie her hands. Additional allocation for the Defence Ministry, for the services to pick up their pace of modernisation, may eventually need the intervention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Source: Indian Express June 01, 2019 23:31 UTC