On the defensive

During the same address, Prasad began drifting towards other policy initiatives for which the NDA government is in the news. Foreign direct investment (FDI) in defence is one of them. After commenting at some length on the positives of introducing 49 per cent FDI in defence, an issue that is still mired in controversy, Prasad probably realised that it was hardly politic for him to wax eloquent on a topic outside his immediate responsibilities. So he quickly brought in the mention of colleague Arun Jaitley - who is in charge of the defence portfolio - calling him a "friend, elder and brother".