New Delhi: Soon after taking charge as Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh Saturday asked the chiefs of the Army, Navy and the Air Force to prepare separate presentations on the security challenges facing the country as well as overall functioning of their forces.
Singh held a meeting with Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa and newly-appointed Navy Chief Karambir Singh at the headquarters of the defence ministry in the Raisina Hills and discussed several issues with them, officials said.
A defence ministry spokesperson said Singh instructed the officers to prepare detailed presentations on all divisions of the ministry and set time-bound targets to achieve the desired outcome.
Officials said the presentations will be reviewed by Singh at a high-level meeting soon. In Saturday’s meeting, Singh was given a brief presentation on the functioning of the ministry as well as role of its four departments — Department of Defence, Department of Defence Production, Department of Ex-serviceman Welfare and Department of Research and Development Organisation.
Singh, who was the Home Minister in the previous government, was accorded a grand welcome by the three services chiefs and senior officials when he arrived at the defence ministry around noon.
A defence ministry spokesperson said Singh urged all those who greeted him to give their best and work towards achieving the “targets”.
As defence minister, Singh’s most crucial challenge will be to speed up the long-delayed modernisation of the three services besides ensuring overall coherence in their combat readiness.
His another challenge will be to ensure peace and tranquillity along the frontier with China while developing required military infrastructure to deal with any possible Chinese hostility.
As he took charge of the ministry just three months after India carried out air strikes on a terrorist training camp in Pakistan’s Balakot, it is expected that he will continue with the policy of hot pursuit in dealing with cross border terrorism.
Containing infiltration of terrorists into Jammu and Kashmir from Pakistan will be another key focus area.
As the Defence Minister, Singh will face the challenge of strengthening the combat capabilities of the Army, Navy and the Air Force due to changing regional security matrix and geo-political dynamics. (PTI)
