The Minister of Defence : The Minister of Defence is the head of the Ministry of Defence of the Government of India. They are often assisted by a Minister of State for Defence and less-commonly, the lower-ranked Deputy Minister of Defence. The defence minister additionally serves as President of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, and as Chancellor of the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology and of the National Defence University. The first defence minister of independent India was Baldev Singh, who served in Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's cabinet during 1947–52. Rajnath Singh is the current defence minister of India. List of defence ministers № Name Portrait Term of office Political party (Alliance) Prime Minister 1 Baldev Singh 2 September 1946 – 10 May 1952 Indian National Congress Jawaharlal Nehru 2 N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar[1] Gopalaswamy Ayyangar.jpg 1952—1953 3 Jawaharlal Nehru[1] Jnehru.jpg 1953—1955 4 Kailash Nath Katju 1955—1957 (3) Jawaharlal Nehru[1] Jnehru.jpg 1957—1957 5 V. K. Krishna Menon Krishna Menon.jpg 1957—1962 (3) Jawaharlal Nehru[1] Jnehru.jpg 1962—1962 6 Yashwantrao Chavan Y B Chavan (cropped).jpg 1962—1966 Jawaharlal Nehru Lal Bahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi 7 Swaran Singh 1966—1970 Indira Gandhi 8 Jagjivan Ram Jagjivan Ram (cropped).jpg 1970—1974 (5) Swaran Singh 1974—1975 9 Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi 1977.jpg 1975—1975 10 Bansi Lal 21 December 1975 – 24 March 1977 (8) Jagjivan Ram Jagjivan Ram (cropped).jpg 24 March 1977 – 28 July 1979 Janata Party Morarji Desai 11 Chidambaram Subramaniam Chidambaram Subramaniam.jpg 28 July 1979 – 14 January 1980 Janata Party (Secular) Charan Singh (9) Indira Gandhi Indira Gandhi 1977.jpg 16 January 1980 – 15 January 1982 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi 12 R. Venkataraman R Venkataraman.jpg 15 January 1982 – 2 August 1984 13 Shankarrao Chavan 2 August 1984 – 31 December 1984 Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi 14 P. V. Narasimha Rao Pumapaparti.N.rao.jpg 31 December 1984 – 25 September 1985 Rajiv Gandhi 15 Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (1987).jpg 25 September 1985 – 24 January 1987 16 V. P. Singh V. P. Singh (cropped).jpg 24 January 1987 – 12 April 1987 17 K. C. Pant 12 April 1987 – 1 December 1989 (14) V. P. Singh V. P. Singh (cropped).jpg 2 December 1989 – 10 November 1990 Janata Dal (National Front) V. P. Singh 18 Chandra Shekhar Chandra Shekhar Singh 2010 stamp of India.jpg 10 November 1990 – 21 June 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party (National Front) Chandra Shekhar 19 Sharad Pawar Sharad Pawar, Minister of AgricultureCrop.jpg 21 June 1991 – 6 March 1993 Indian National Congress P. V. Narasimha Rao (12) P. V. Narasimha Rao Pumapaparti.N.rao.jpg 6 March 1993 – 16 May 1996 20 Pramod Mahajan 16 May 1996 – 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Atal Bihari Vajpayee 21 Mulayam Singh Yadav Mulayam Singh Yadav (28993165375).jpg 1 June 1996 – 19 March 1998 Samajwadi Party (United Front) H. D. Deve Gowda I. K. Gujral 22 George Fernandes George Fernandes (cropped).jpg 19 March 1998 – 16 March 2001 Samata Party (National Democratic Alliance) Atal Bihari Vajpayee 23 Jaswant Singh Jaswant Singh.jpg 16 March 2001 – 21 October 2001 Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) (20) George Fernandes George Fernandes (cropped).jpg 21 October 2001 – 22 May 2004 Samata Party Janata Dal (National Democratic Alliance) 24 Pranab Mukherjee Pranab Mukherjee-World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2009 crop(2).jpg 22 May 2004 – 24 October 2006 Indian National Congress (United Progressive Alliance) Manmohan Singh 25 A. K. Antony A. K. Antony.jpg 24 October 2006 – 26 May 2014 26 Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley, Minister.jpg 26 May 2014 – 9 November 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party (National Democratic Alliance) Narendra Modi 27 Manohar Parrikar RM Manohar Parrikar.jpg 9 November 2014 – 13 March 2017 (24) Arun Jaitley Arun Jaitley, Minister.jpg 13 March 2017 – 3 September 2017 28 Nirmala Sitharaman Nirmala Sitharaman - 2018 (46166396231) (cropped).jpg 3 September 2017 – 31 May 2019 29 Rajnath Singh Rajnath.jpg 31 May 2019[2] Best NDA Class In Pune ( Dignitary )