NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appointed Nirmala Sitharaman as defense minister in a cabinet reshuffle, in a bid to speed up development work as he comes under pressure to deliver on election promises in the final 20 months of his term.
A senior official in the president's office said "Nirmala Sitharaman will be handling defense portfolio".
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was holding defense portfolio earlier, while Sitharaman was trade minister.