Rajnath Singh to Visit Siachen on Monday, His First Official Tour as Defence Minister

Rajnath Singh will be briefed about the operations being carried out by the Army in Siachen and their future plans.

New Delhi: For his first official visit as the Union Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh will fly to world’s highest battlefield- Siachen on Monday.

During the visit, Rajnath Singh will be accompanied by Army chief General Bipin Rawat and other senior officials of the Defence Ministry. Rajnath Singh will be briefed about the operations being carried out by the Army in Siachen and their future plans.

Northern Army Commander Lt General Ranbir Singh, 14 Corps Commander, and Kargil War veteran YK Joshi are also scheduled to brief Singh about the operational viability in the region.

The Defence Minister will then visit the nearby areas.

Singh, on Saturday, took charge as the country’s Defence Minister. He is the fourth face to head the ministry in five years after Arun Jaitley (who had two stints), Manohar Parrikar and Nirmala Sitharaman.

He was received by Minister of State for Defence Shripad Yesso Naik who took charge on Friday, as well as by Army Chief General Bipin Rawat, Air Force Chief Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa and Navy Chief Karambir Singh.

“The main challenge for Rajnath Singh is the preparation of a National Security strategy which was to be prepared by the newly constituted Defence Planning Committee. This will provide new guidelines to the services to prepare strategies,” former Brigadier and defence expert S.K. Chatterjee told news agency IANS.

With IANS inputs