NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday appointed Nirmala Sitharaman as defence minister in a cabinet reshuffle, in a bid to speed up development work as he comes under pressure to deliver on election promises in the final 20 months of his term.

A senior official in the president’s office said “Nirmala Sitharaman will be handling defence portfolio”.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley was holding defence portfolio earlier, while Sitharaman was trade minister.