On the procurements front, the ministry is set to push through a group of urgent missile deals — that have been stuck over the past few months as relations with the Left deteriorated — with Israel for the Navy and Air Force.

Topping the list is a $120 million deal to procure additional missiles from Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defence Systems Ltd to arm the Navy’s Barak ship defence systems. The Navy has an urgent requirement of 250 missiles for its 10 Barak systems.

While the deal has been given a go-ahead by the CBI, which had named the company in an FIR for alleged kickbacks in the Barak missile defence system deal, a political decision to clear it was stuck with the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) for a few months due to the political uncertainty. A similar $325-million deal to procure Rafael’s Spyder Air Defence System for the Indian Air Force has also been stalled for over a year.