India needs a full-time defence minister: Sharad Pawar

Expressing concern over situation in Kashmir, former defence minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar on Sunday said that the country needs a full-time defence minister.

Addressing a press conference in Pune, Pawar said that all political parties have decided to back the Union government on the Kashmir issue.

He said the government needs to take urgent steps to tackle the worsening situation in Kashmir valley, which has been hit hard by terrorism and infiltration.