Jaitley takes charge as Defence Minister

New Delhi, March 14 (IANS) Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Tuesday assumed charge as Defence Minister, a day after he was given additional responsibility of the ministry.

This comes after Manohar Parrikar resigned on Monday as Defence Minister to head a new Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Goa.

On the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Pranab Mukherjee directed Jaitley to be assigned the charge of the Defence Ministry in addition to his existing portfolios.

Jaitley was earlier handling Defence from May 26, 2014 – when the Modi government was sworn in – till November 9, 2014, when the portfolio was handed over to Parrikar.