Nirmala Sitharaman takes charge as defence minister, vows to be 'round-the-clock' raksha mantri

Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday took charge as defence minister of India. She thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for vesting a great amount of confidence in her and giving a critical portfolio.'I will be raksha mantri round the clock", she said.Speaking to reporters, she said that her top priority will be safeguarding the interests of the soldiers. "My first job is to ensure that interest of soldiers of the armed forces standing at India's toughest borders, safeguarding our motherland are being taken care off. Under the guidance of prime minister, I will serve the defence ministry to the fullest".[caption id="attachment_3751725" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of India defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman. AFP[/caption]A priest held prayers in the newly-inducted defence minister's chamber before she assumed charge.The former commerce and industries minister also pitched for increase in defence production through government's 'Make in India' programme. "It is very important to boost India's defense production. With the vision and guidance of our prime minister we will make sure that our armed forces are provided the best of equipment to safeguard our country."Through Make in India, we could create a space for Indian products in international defence market", she said.Sitharaman is the second woman after Indira Gandhi to head the key portfolio and the first full-time woman defence minister. She will assume the charge from Arun Jaitley, who held the additional charge of the Ministry of Defence after Manohar Parrikar's resignation.She was one of the four to be elevated to Cabinet rank. Along with her, Piyush Goyal (Railways), Dharmendra Pradan and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi were promoted as Cabinet ministers.In Sunday's Cabinet reshuffle, Modi had roped in nine new faces to the Union Council of Ministers.The new ministers are Shiv Pratap Shukla, Ashwini Kumar Choubey, Virendra Kumar, Anantkumar Hegde, Raj Kumar Singh, Hardeep Singh Puri, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Satya Pal Singh and Alphons Kannanthanam.With inputs from PTI