Nirmala Sitharaman who took charge as the Defence Minister on Thursday said her priorities were military preparedness, ‘Make in India’ and welfare of soldiers and their families.
“My priority will definitely be the armed forces preparedness. It is important that the Indian armed forces receive the attention in terms of giving them every endowment and equipment necessary for them to perform their duty with the best of equipment available,” she said in a message after assuming charge.
She took charge of the ministry from Finance Minister Arun Jaitley who was holding additional charge since March, becoming the first full-time woman Defence Minister of the country.
“I shall attend to all the long pending issues and in consultation and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) ensure that those pending issues are resolved,” Ms. Sitharaman stated.
Talking of India’s defence capabilities, she laid emphasis on having a major role for ‘Make in India’ in our defence production and said, “We shall ensure that the important characters of what makes ‘Make in India’ an important flagship programme of the Prime Minister is given full play for defence production because India as you know is a very big defence equipment procurer.”
Ms. Sitharaman said her other priority was armed forces families and their welfare. “Let us not for a moment forget that it is in their welfare, in their families welfare that we can ensure that the soldier at the very toughest borders, challenging zones in which they are protecting this country remain absolutely assured that their interests are being taken care of,” she said.
Pledging to do her best to ensure that “defence and defence priorities are well attended to,” she added, “I shall be round the clock available.”
Speaking later at an event organised by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), she said it was a privilege to hand over indigenous products on her first engagement after assuming office.
The DRDO event which also attended by Home Minister Rajnath Singh saw the handing over of armoured bus, bullet proof jacket, Unmanned Arial Vehicles (UAV) and small arms among others to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs).
Noting that the country's “import dependence has gone up,” Mr. Singh said that the systems being developed by DPSUs under the 'Make in India' initiative will reduce the dependence.
Observing that defence procurements for home ministry done through defence ministry are delayed for the CAPFs, Mr. Singh said a framework was needed for the supply of defence equipment.
