Arun Jaitley on Friday asked Opposition parties not to politicise defence, reported IANS. Speaking at the Lok Sabha during the second leg of the Budget session, the Union minister said “national security and national preparedness are not political issues”. He recently got the charge of the Defence Ministry after Manohar Parrikar left his post to become the Goa chief minister.

“Procurement procedures are on. We are trying to make it fast,” Jaitley said. “Any critical requirement of the forces will not be compromised with, even if we have to cut expenditure somewhere else.” He assured the House that the Indian military was “fully prepared” to face any threat to the country.

Jaitley’s satement came after allegations were brought by Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia, who said the ministry had been neglected by Parrikar. Scindia said Parrikar was hardly ever in Delhi. “Want to ask the Prime Minister, where is your patriot government why could we not bring progress in Defence,” Scindia said. “The answer is not mysterious, problems can be solved only when the defence minister is in Delhi.”

The Opposition leader also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party government for not taking any action on a report prepared on the Pathankot attack in 2016. The report he mentioned was prepared by a panel of experts working under former Vice Chief of Army Lt Gen Philip Campose (retd).