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

The Congress spokesperson cited the remarks of former HAL chief T Suvarna Raju to attack Sitharaman over the issue of HAL's capability to build the Rafale aircraft.

“The RM (Rafale Minister) tasked with defending corruption has been caught lying again. The former HAL Chief, T S Raju, has nailed her lie, that HAL didn’t have the capability to build the RAFALE. Her position is untenable & she must resign,” tweeted Gandhi.

Sitharaman’s comments came days after candidates backed by Left groups won all four key posts in the JNU Students Union elections.

Sitharaman said that when a person of Sidhu’s stature hugs chief of Pakistani army it demoralises people of the country.

The controversial message sent by one of the arrested duo reads as, "Main shoot karunga Sitharaman ko, kal uska akhiri din hoga. ('I will shoot Sitharaman, tomorrow will be her last day'), police said.

Currently, she said, there is a problem in collating foreign direct investment (FDI) data related to the defence sector.

Appearing in “Aap Ki Adalat” show of India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma, Nirmala Sitharaman admitted that transgressions do take place at the Line of Actual Control with China.

On Rahul Gandhi’s charge that public sector company Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd was overlooked in favour of Anil Ambani’s company for manufacture of Rafale aircraft, the Defence Minister said, that HAL was already overburdened and its production capacity was less.

The defence minister is taking questions from India TV Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma.

The defence minister said that the fighter jet deal was clinched at a lower price compared to what was being negotiated by the previous UPA regime.

The defence minister was asked whether the government will engage with opposition parties the way the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2005 had taken the Opposition into confidence and addressed their apprehensions to pave way for finalising the nuclear deal with the US.

Sitharaman said the UPA deal collapsed as HAL did not have the capability to produce 108 aircraft in India.

The two sides signed Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) that will enable Indian armed forces to get critical and encrypted defence technologies from US.

The Governor and Defence Minister discussed several important inter-related issues concerning effective management of internal and external security, particularly in the context of increasing attempts at infiltration and the ongoing anti-terrorist op

Admitting that he was pained at the turn of events, the Chief Minister said he spoke to her on the reported tiff over protocol with state Tourism and district in-charge Minister Sa Ra Mahesh.

Admitting that he was pained at the turn of events, the Chief Minister said he spoke to her on the reported tiff over protocol with state Tourism and district in-charge Minister Sa Ra Mahesh.

Sitharaman said the programme for the flood affected areas was finalised by the district administration in consultation with the public representatives.

The state minister asked Sitharaman to wind up her press conference quickly citing lack of time. This infuriated the defence minister.

The decision was taken at talks between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and the visiting Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe.