New Delhi, 3 September(Wishav Warta): Notwithstanding the appointment of Nirmala Sitharaman as the new defence minister, finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is presently holding additional charge of defence, will represent India in a bilateral dialogue on defence in Japan. Sitharaman, who was elevated to the rank of a cabinet minister on Sunday and is set to be given the defence portfolio, will take charge of her office after Jaitley returns from Japan. Jaitley told reporters on Sunday that he was going to Japan as logistic arrangements were not possible at the last moment.
“I leave tonight for Japan, and normally the new defence minister should have been going. But logistically that doesn’t seem possible today being a Sunday to make the changes,” said Jaitley, who will hold a bilateral dialogue with his Japanese counterpart, ahead of a visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to India later this month.
