Minister of Defence ( India ) - wikipedia Minister of Defence ( India ) Minister of Defence Emblem of India Incumbent Nirmala Sitharaman Ministry of Defence Appointer President on the advice of the Prime Minister Inaugural holder Baldev Singh Formation 2 September 1946 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. Nirmala Sitharaman, the current defence minister of India is the second woman since Indira Gandhi to hold this major post. List of Defence Ministers No Name Portrait Term of office Political party ( Alliance ) Prime Minister Baldev Singh ( 1902 -- 1961 ) 2 September 1946 10 May 1952 Indian National Congress Jawaharlal Nehru Kailash Nath Katju ( 1887 -- 1968 ) 1955 1957 V.K. Krishna Menon ( 1896 -- 1974 ) 1957 1962 Yashwantrao Chavan ( 1913 -- 1984 ) 1962 1966 Jawaharlal Nehru Lal Bahadur Shastri Indira Gandhi Swaran Singh ( 1907 -- 1994 ) 1966 1970 Indira Gandhi 6 Jagjivan Ram ( 1908 -- 1986 ) 1970 ( 5 ) Swaran Singh ( 1907 -- 1994 ) 7 Indira Gandhi ( 1917 -- 1984 ) 8 Bansi Lal ( 1927 -- 2006 ) 21 December 1975 24 March 1977 ( 6 ) Jagjivan Ram ( 1908 -- 1986 ) 24 March 1977 28 July 1979 Janata Party Morarji Desai 9 Chidambaram Subramaniam ( 1910 -- 2000 ) 28 July 1979 14 January 1980 Janata Party ( Secular ) Charan Singh ( 7 ) Indira Gandhi ( 1917 -- 1984 ) 16 January 1980 15 January 1982 Indian National Congress Indira Gandhi 10 R. Venkataraman ( 1910 -- 2009 ) 15 January 1982 2 August 1984 11 Shankarrao Chavan ( 1920 -- 2004 ) 2 August 1984 31 December 1984 Indira Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi 12 P.V. Narasimha Rao ( 1921 -- 2004 ) 31 December 1984 25 September 1985 Rajiv Gandhi 13 Rajiv Gandhi ( 1944 -- 1991 ) 25 September 1985 24 January 1987 14 V.P. Singh ( 1931 -- 2008 ) 24 January 1987 12 April 1987 15 K.C. Pant ( 1931 -- 2012 ) 12 April 1987 1 December 1989 ( 14 ) V.P. Singh ( 1931 -- 2008 ) 2 December 1989 10 November 1990 Janata Dal ( National Front ) Himself 16 Chandra Shekhar ( 1927 -- 2007 ) 10 November 1990 21 June 1991 Samajwadi Janata Party ( National Front ) Himself 17 Sharad Pawar ( born 1940 ) 21 June 1991 6 March 1993 Indian National Congress P.V. Narasimha Rao ( 12 ) P.V. Narasimha Rao ( 1921 -- 2004 ) 6 March 1993 16 May 1996 18 Pramod Mahajan ( 1949 -- 2006 ) 16 May 1996 1 June 1996 Bharatiya Janata Party Atal Bihari Vajpayee 19 Mulayam Singh Yadav ( born 1939 ) 1 June 1996 19 March 1998 Samajwadi Party ( United Front ) H.D. Deve Gowda I.K. Gujral 20 George Fernandes ( born 1930 ) 19 March 1998 16 March 2001 Samata Party ( National Democratic Alliance ) Atal Bihari Vajpayee 21 Jaswant Singh ( born 1938 ) 16 March 2001 21 October 2001 Bharatiya Janata Party ( National Democratic Alliance ) ( 20 ) George Fernandes ( born 1930 ) 21 October 2001 22 May 2004 Samata Party Janata Dal ( National Democratic Alliance ) 22 Pranab Mukherjee ( born 1935 ) 22 May 2004 24 October 2006 Indian National Congress ( United Progressive Alliance ) Manmohan Singh 23 A.K. Antony ( born 1940 ) 24 October 2006 26 May 2014 24 Arun Jaitley ( born 1952 ) 26 May 2014 9 November 2014 Bharatiya Janata Party ( National Democratic Alliance ) Narendra Modi 25 Manohar Parrikar ( born 1955 ) 9 November 2014 13 March 2017 ( 24 ) Arun Jaitley ( born 1952 ) 13 March 2017 3 September 2017 26 Nirmala Sitharaman ( born 1959 ) 3 September 2017 Incumbent See also Wikimedia Commons has media related to Defence Ministers of India. 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Question: who was the first woman defence minister of india
Answer: Indira Gandhi