Arun Jaitley assumes charge of def ministry

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday took additional charge of the Defence Ministry, a dual position he had held for around six months in 2014.

Jaitley was given the charge of the Defence Ministry on Monday after Manohar Parrikar stepped down from the position to go back to Goa to become its Chief Minister.

Jaitley, one of the senior most ministers in the Modi cabinet, was in-charge of Defence Ministry between May 26 to November 9 in 2014, before Parrikar was brought in from Goa.

Parrikar's tenure as Defence Minister saw clearance of a raft of arms deals besides simplification of the acquisition process. He had also pushed for a number of stalled acquisition projects.

A Rashtrapati Bhawan communique had on Monday said that as advised by the Prime Minister, the President has directed that Jaitley shall be assigned the charge of the Defence Ministry in addition to his existing portfolios.

It is not clear for how long Jaitley will keep the two key portfolios.

The deals finalised during Parrikar's tenure included purchase of 21 Apache attack helicopters and 15 Chinook heavy-lift choppers from American aviation giant Boeing and the US government.