Arun Jaitley hints at not serving Defence Minister post 'for long'

Arun Jaitley on Thursday hinted that he would not be serving the post of Defence Minister for long.

Responding to a poser, during a press briefing on Thursday, on his tenure as the defence minister, Jaitley said, "At least I hope not very long. That's anyway not me to decide."

Jaitley, the Union Finance Minister, was given additional charge of the Defence Ministry when Manohar Parrikar became the Chief Minister of Goa in March this year.

Reiterating his stand on the cash squeeze, which has posed a threat for the terrorist elements in Jammu & Kashmir and Chhattisgarh, Jaitley claimed on Wednesday that the shortage of currency has resulted in a shortage of 'stone throwers' for the separatists.

"For the first time, the RBI has scrutinised each note, which has helped them differentiate between fake notes from the authentic ones. The cash squeeze is evident, since these terrorist elements are finding it difficult to mobilise support for them. Without enough cash notes, it is difficult to gather stone throwers as before," said Jaitley.

Speaking on the way forward, Jaitley stated that the next step would be to put an end to black money used in elections, adding that the final stage of proposals is being deliberated.