Being in the shadow of the PM in general is not bad, the problem is, if you are responsible for decisions your ministry makes, which are based on the PMs call. That's why a propper DM needs to show his vision for his ministry, which doesn't need to be that different from the PM, but primarily guided by the aim of security of the nation and the best for the forces. That however is not what we are seing in the last few months and if the PM at least would push into the defence field with actual improvements for the defence in mind, one could welcome his work, but that's not the case either. Crucial modernisations that the 3 chiefs specifically urged for are getting delayed because of the PMs agenda to create more benefits for the economy and putting the forces and modernisation on the backtrack. On the one had he is speeding up bureaucracy, which however is pointless when tenders get scrapped and re-issued which results in new delays. That's where a DM at least must remind the PM on the importance of defence over economy!