*NEW DELHI: *The newly constituted all-powerful defence panel for defenceplanning headed by NSA Ajit Doval for chalking out the country’s militaryand security strategy has decided to chart a time-bound action plan foraccelerating military purchases, in its inaugural meeting here on Thursday.

According to a statement issued by the Defence Ministry ”the meeting ofthe Defence Planning Committee ‘deliberated upon the geo-strategiclandscape’ and agreed to chart a time-bound action plan in keeping with itsbroad mandate”.

The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Doval and was attended bythe three Service Chiefs.

The members of the newly-constituted defence panel which included DefenceSecretary Sanjay Mitra, Expenditure Secretary Ajay Narayan Jha, ForeignSecretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale and Chief of Integrated Defence Staff, Lt.Gen. Satish Dua, who is the Member Secretary, also attended the meeting.

The overarching Defence Planning Committee which was set up by thegovernment last month, has been mandated to drive the country’s militaryand security strategy, draft capability development plans and guide andaccelerate defence equipment acquisitions in line with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s ambitious plans to modernize the country’s armed forces andtheir ageing war machines.

Led by NSA Ajit Doval, the all-powerful defence panel comes under the PrimeMinister’s Office (PMO) and works with an aim to make decisions on militarypurchases much faster.