With a vision to further strengthen national security and defence, Rajnath Singh took charge as the country's 29th defence minister on Saturday.
Before assuming charge, Singh visited the National War Memorial in the national capital and paid tribute to the soldiers who laid down their lives for the country post independence.
"These fallen heroes represent the character of India who has a long history of courage, sacrifice and patriotism. I salute them for keeping India safe," he said immediately after paying tributes. Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa and Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh were also present at the memorial.
At the South Block, which houses the ministry of defence, Singh, the Lok Sabha member from Lucknow, was accorded a warm welcome by Minister of State for Defence Shripad Naik and defence secretary Sanjay Mitra. Naik took charge as the junior minister in defence on Friday, soon after the announcement of portfolios.
Immediately after taking over, Singh held a meeting with all three service chiefs, along with DRDO chairman Satheesh Reddy, who is also the scientific adviser to the defence minister.
The MoD officials gave a presentation on the functioning of the ministry. Giving his first instruction, Singh has asked the defence officers to prepare detailed presentations on all divisions and set time-bound targets to achieve the desired outcome.
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Defence observers believe that amidst the growing challenges from Pakistan and China, Singh will have decide on several crucial defence projects. Plugging critical shortage of fighters, submarines, minesweepers, air defence, infantry weapons and war wastage reserves and moderninsation will be some of the top priorities for him. Singh will have to address budgetary constrains as one of the main reasons for slow modernisation is due to the fact that a major chunk of the defence allocation would be set aside to pay salaries and pensions. Right-sizing and integration of armed forces are the other key issues that require immediate attention to reduce administrative cost.
Singh, who has a successful stint as the Union home minister in the previous government, will have to initiate steps to bridge civil-military divide and integrate service headquarters with defence ministry.
He will also have to re-look into Make in India initiative in defence sector. Despite tall claims, no major contract under the Make in India project was really taken off in the last five years and armed forces had to depend on off-the-shelf purchases to meet their critical requirements.
