page_title: A. K. Antony
section_title: Union Minister for Defence
hierarchical_section_title: A. K. Antony / Government offices / Union Minister for Defence
caption_attribution_description: Secretary of Defense Leon E. Panetta meets with Indian Minister of Defense Ak Antony, in Delhi, India, June 6, 2012. Panetta and Antony spoke of the stable and well developed defense relationship between the two countries and the possibility of India taking a larger role in Afghanistan. DoD photo by Erin A. Kirk-Cuomo (Released)
context_page_description: Arackaparambil Kurien Antony, better known as A. K. Antony is an Indian politician and attorney who was the 23rd Defence Minister of India. He is the current Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha, from Kerala for the fifth term since 1985. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the Disciplinary Action Committee of the All India Congress Committee, Congress Working Committee, and member of the Congress Core Group and Central Election Committee.
  Antony previously served as Defence Minister, making him the person who served the longest in this post in India. He has also been three times as Chief Minister of Kerala and Leader of Opposition in Kerala Legislative Assembly.
context_section_description: In 2005, Antony entered the Rajya Sabha and was inducted into the Union Council of Ministers as Defence Minister following Natwar Singh's expulsion from the Congress and Pranab Mukherjee's transfer to the Ministry of External Affairs. After the Congress again won the elections in 2009 and formed the government once again under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Antony retained the portfolio of Defence for the second term becoming the longest-serving Defence Minister of India in a continuous stint for 8 years. His "Buy and Make Indian" campaign saw the cancellation of billion of dollars in purchases of foreign arms, while at the same time stunting domestic production by restricting investments.
caption: AK Antony with 23rd United States Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta in 2012
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