Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is currently on a five-day maiden trip to the US. 

The two countries want to take their defence cooperation to the next level.

India is procuring two stealth frigates at a cost of USD 1 billion and both the ships will be equipped with indigenously developed BrahMos missiles.

During a press conference in Bhopal, a reporter asked her as to why the NDA government was 'tom-tomming' the operation two years later.

The BJP leader was replying to a query about Gandhi making the controversial deal a big issue in the Madhya Pradesh assembly elections.

She also lauded it for its multiple successful search and rescue missions, humanitarian aid, assistance to fishermen and increased surveillance capability. 

The tracked, self-propelled K9 Vajra, with a maximum range of 28-38 km, is capable of firing three rounds in 30 seconds in the ‘burst' mode, 15 rounds in three minutes in the ‘intense' mode and 60 rounds in 60 minutes in the ‘sustained' mode.

During the trip, she will be briefed about the defence preparedness and infrastructure improvements by the Army in the region. 

The members of the GoM are Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi, a home ministry official said.

Sitharaman emphasised India's concern on the grave challenges to international peace and stability due to the threat of terrorism.

India and Singapore will extend their already comprehensive bilateral defence collaboration, sources said.  

She added that terrorism was a primary security threat with "interplay between states and non-state actors that are often used as proxies" to foment violence worsening the menace.

Repeatedly calling Gandhi a "clown prince", the BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra at a press conference also alleged the Congress leader comes from "a family of middlemen" and his his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was "officially a middleman" in a defence deal.

Sitharaman will hold wide-ranging talks with her French counterpart Florence Parly on ways to deepen strategic cooperation between the two countries .

When asked if PM Modi was authorised to take a call on reducing the number of aircraft to be purchased without consulting the Indian Air Force, Sitharaman said that the prime minister doesn't require such permission.

Blaming the then United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for not finalising the deal with Dassault during its tenure, the Defence Minister said the Congress campaign on Rafale was irresponsible and baseless.

She said that Hollande's claims came at a time when he himself was facing allegations that his partner had received “some funds for some purpose”.

Accusing the previous UPA government of being in touch with "brokers", Sitharaman alleged that the Congress government did not buy important equipment required for the defence force.

India wants to procure the long-range missile systems to tighten its air defence mechanism, particularly along the nearly 4,000-km-long China-India border.

"I, others will go around the country to put facts before the public. It is a matter of perception battle," she told reporters.