After Indira Gandhi, Nirmala Sitharaman is the first woman Defence Minister of the country. Now that there are two women leaders in the coveted Cabinet Committee on Security, Sitharaman has said this means empowerment of women in the truest sense.
An excellent orator and a leader who has risen through the ranks, Sitharaman recently said: “Whether it’s day-to-day shopping, or buying arms, a woman (leader) would always drive a hard bargain.” True to her words, she gave the Congress, which has been raising questions about the Rafale deal, a befitting reply, saying everything was above board.
Defence, any day, is a challenging assignment. Among her predecessors were A.K. Antony — during his tenure it was said the pace of arms acquisition and defence modernisation was affected due to sheer inertia. Manohar Parrikar tried to set it right, but his term was short-lived. For an ecosystem as crucial as Defence, and for a time as challenging as today, Sitharaman’s, thus, is an extremely challenging task.
Earlier, as Commerce and Industry Minister, Sitharaman led from the front through challenging times. The turnaround in exports was possible due to her efforts. On thesame subject, Sitharaman praised how the exporters were swimming against the global tide. “I do not think that global situation has improved drastically. Even if there are green shoots that people are seeing and saying that there are prospects that world trade might improve, it is yet to be significantly felt by others,” she said.
She also took pride in the fact that India was continuously among the top recipients of FDI.
A consummate scholar, and activist par excellence, she was once complimented by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh “for bringing substance into debates”. A free thinker during her JNU days, Sitharaman did her PhD from London before returning to India and setting up her own school, and venturing into activism. She is also a former member of the National Commission for Women, before becoming a star spokesperson of the party. The rest, as they say, is history.