NEW DELHI: Finance minister Arun Jaitley promised continuity in the country’s overall defence policy after taking additional charge of the defence ministry on Tuesday, amid concerns over the delay in several military modernisation projects as well as the finalization of the “strategic partnership” policy for the private sector in indigenous defence production "The defence ministry has a distinct responsibility regarding the country's security and armed forces, procurement for defence equipment etc. Today, I have taken a reporting of the situation. We have a continuous government and I will take it up from where Manohar Parrikar (who was sworn as the Goa chief minister on Tuesday) has left it," said Jaitley.Jaitley, of course, is familiar with the functioning of the gigantic defence ministry because he had also held the portfolio, in addition to his primary charge of the finance ministry, for the first six months after the Modi government came to office in May 2014.Like before, Jaitley is expected to hold the dual charge for some time till PM Narendra Modi finalises who will succeed Parrikar as the country’s defence minister.Jaitley, on taking charge at South Block on Tuesday morning, held preliminary discussions with minister of state for defence Subhash Bhamre, defence secretary G Mohan Kumar and other top officials as well as the three Service chiefs -- Admiral Sunil Lanba, Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa and General Bipin Rawat.As was reported by TOI on Sunday, there are several challenges confronting the new defence minister, which include the need to strengthen the fledgling defence production sector, plug huge operational gaps in military capabilities, usher in much-needed reforms in higher defence management and fix the civil-military divide.During his stint as the defence minister for slightly over two years, Parrikar did initiate reforms on several fronts but many are yet to be taken to their logical conclusions. The post of a chief of defence staff to inject synergy among the armed forces in terms of policy, planning and procurements, for instance, is yet to be created. Similar is the long-pending case for new unified commands to handle the critical areas of space, cyberspace and special operations, as also theatre commands in the future.On the defence production front, the “strategic partnership” policy for is still awaited. Under it, private sector companies will be chosen for “strategic partnerships” in six broad areas ranging from aircraft and warships to tanks and guided missile systems, as was reported by TOI earlier.The “strategic partnership model” to create capacity in the private sector on a long term basis, over and above the capacity and infrastructure that exists in defence PSUs, will gradually replace the existing system to award contracts only to the lowest bidder (L-1).India still continues to import 65% of its military hardware and software, making it the world’s largest arms importer, because of the shoddy performance of DRDO and its 50 labs, five defence PSUs, four shipyards and 39 ordnance factories as well as the failure to enthuse private sector to enter defence production in a major way over the years.