Sitharaman visits forward bases in Raj

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday visited the field firing range in Khetolai area in Pokhran and met senior Army officers stationed there.

This was her second visit to Rajasthan after she took charge of the defence ministry earlier this month, becoming the first full-time woman defence minister of the country.

At display were the capabilities of ingeniously developed battle tank Arjun MK-2 during a field exercise by Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) at the firing range.

Earlier, Sitharaman visited the forward airbase at Uttarlai Barmer, which was her first field visit after being appointed defence minister. In less than a month of her appointment, Sitharaman has visited a number of armed force bases across the country and held discussions with senior officials, something that is also seen as a confidence building exercise among the ground troops.

Even as her official schedule of Saturday remained restricted to visiting the DRDO exercise, she is also reported to have visited a defence lab and held discussions with officers stationed at the local bases. Her presence and meeting with the Army officials is expected to further boost morals of troops deployed in the bordering areas.

However, unlike her last visit, the Defence minister on Saturday evening returned to Delhi without making a public or press appearance. She arrived at Jaisalmer in morning from a special flight and was received by senior officers of the Army and the Air Force, and flew to Jodhpur from Pakhran to take a flight back to the national capital.