Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nirmala Sitharaman and S. Jaishankar continue in their previous roles, as Ministers for Defence, Home, Finance and External Affairs, respectively. Mr. Modi evidently trusts them, and their performance, though in the case of Mr. Singh and Mr. Shah, political reasons are also at play. Apart from piloting India’s defence ambitions, Mr. Singh is also expected to use his famed diplomatic skills to deal with politically sensitive issues such as the Agnipath recruitment scheme for the military. Mr. Jaishankar did a commendable job of carefully balancing India’s traditional ties and emerging interests in the previous term. While improving ties with the United States, he has managed to protect the strategic autonomy of India, now with an additional Hindutva hue. Ms. Sitharaman steered the economy through the COVID-19 pandemic turmoil, and has been a champion of its prospects. She has, however, not managed the contentious questions of Centre-State fiscal relations very well. Mr. Shah has a long list of politically sensitive issues to tackle in his new term — completion of the Census operation, transition of the criminal justice system with the implementation of the new criminal codes, and Centre-State relations, among other things. The Ministers have their task cut out, and stability helps. They will also be called upon to exercise wisdom.