Nirmala Sitharaman will take over as the first full-time woman Defence Minister on Wednesday, once Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, who currently holds additional charge, is back from Japan.
“She will take charge on Wednesday. Time will be known in due course,” a defence source said on Sunday.
Ms. Sitharaman has a multitude of challenges to tackle in South Block which did not have a full-time Minister for over 10 months since Manohar Parrikar’s exit in November. The takeover has been delayed as Mr. Jaitley left for Tokyo to participate in the India-Japan security dialogue.
“Normally, the new Defence Minister should have been going but logistically that doesn’t seem possible, today being a Sunday to make the changes. And it’s a very important security dialogue between the two countries particularly on the eve of the Japanese Prime Minister’s visit. Therefore, changes are not advisable,” Mr. Jaitley told presspersons.
Growing concern
The first priority will be to take the military leadership into confidence and reassure them that they would get enough time and attention to address critical issues. There has been growing concern and a feeling of being left out among the top leadership. As one senior officer put it, “The Ministry has been going on in an autopilot mode.”
“The big challenge is to craft out a national security strategy for the future. The rest will flow from this,” said Lt. Gen. D.S. Hooda, former Northern Army Commander.
In addition, she is faced with three or four major challenges. The dynamics on India-China border have changed dramatically since the Doklam standoff which ended last week. Military experts warn of a new level in the relations and an increase in standoffs.
Line of Control
With Pakistan, the Line of Control (LoC) has been volatile since the Uri terror attack last year and the ceasefire is as good as off. While not looking weak, Ms. Sitharaman needs to get things under control and keep the peace. On a related front, Kashmir has been on the boil and there is widespread feeling on the need for an outreach while keeping the pressure militarily on the terrorist groups.
Apart from borders, the other major issue which would need attention is defence procurements and military modernisation. Under Ms. Sitharaman’s leadership, the armed forces will be implementing one of the biggest reforms ever attempted under.
Implementing reforms
Under the ‘Make in India’ pitch, the government plans to open up domestic defence manufacturing to the private sector in a big way through the recently promulgated Strategic Partnership model. She has to keep a close watch on concerns over nepotism in these attempts.
However, in these attempts, the experience Ms. Sitharaman brings from the Commerce and Finance Ministries would come in handy.
The Ministry has or is in the process of initiating several defence deals running into billions of dollars. The real question is about getting the funds needed to finance them, especially when the economy is slowing down. It has to be seen how she would strike a balance.
