A high-level committee headed by National Security Advisor(NSA)Ajit Doval is likely to finalise the modalities for appointing the first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) in the next three to four weeks. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced in his August 15 speech the creation of the post of CDS as single point military advisor to political leadership.
The proposal to create the CDS was hanging fire for more than 20 years after the K Subrahmanyam committee on higher defence reforms favoured the creation of such a post for synergy amongst the three Services.
As regards the Doval led panel report, sources said here on Wednesday the Government has asked the Army, Navy and IAF to recommend the names of their senior most commanders for the new position. As of now indications are that Army Chief General Bipin Rawat may become the first CDS as he is the senior most amongst the three serving chiefs. He is due to retire as the Army Chief on Dec 31.
In a major defence reform to keep pace with fast changing war fighting capabilities world over, Modi on August 15 announced the creation of post of the CDS to promote synergy and integration of three Services including the army, navy and air force. The CDS will be single-point military advisor to the political leadership on matters of modernisation, operational preparedness and fight jointly.
The proposal for creation of the CDS was pending for the last 20 years after a Group of Ministers(GOM)headed by then Home Minister LK Advani recommended it. A review committee headed by K Subrahmanyam to fine tune higher defence management in the wake of Kargil war in 1999 had given this proposal to the GOM.
However, successive Governments did not go in for the crucial reform citing lack of political consensus. Also, the three Services could not come on the same platform leading to delay of creation of the CDS. Many western countries including the UK have the institution of CDS.
Prior to the land mark reform made public by the Prime Minister on August 15, he had made the political leadership’s inclination apparent during his speech on Kargil Vijay Diwas in July where he stressed on “jointness” and said it was time to connect among three services in terms of “action and system.”
Making the important announcement during his Independence Day speech here, Modi said time has come to enhance coordination among the three services to deal with security challenges facing India.
“To further sharpen coordination between the forces, I want to announce a major decision from the Red Fort: India will have a Chief of Defence Staff- CDS. This is going to make the forces even more effective,” he said. The Prime Minister said as head of the three services, the CDS will ensure synergy and provide effective leadership to the armed forces in dealing with security challenges. In a tweet then, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had said the announcement has been made keeping in view the much needed reform to streamline and further improve the coordination among the three forces and their functioning. “CDS will have a long lasting and a positive impact on India’s security,” Singh said.
The creation of the CDS will eventually lead to the formation of tri-service theatre commands intended to create vertical integration of the three forces. The CDS will be a single window advisor to the Government and also synergise long term planning, procurements, training and logistics of the three services. After Modi’s announcement, the defence Ministry commenced the process to select the CDS, his tenure and other related issues through the Doval led panel.
Also, the Defence Ministry will have to take a call on the seniority of the CDS. At present, the three Chiefs are four-star generals and it remains to be seen whether the CDS will be a five-star general therefore senior to the Chiefs. If the CDS is four-star general, then he will be first among equals, it was learnt.
While the G0M proposal was lying in cold storage since 2001, in 2012, the Naresh Chandra committee recommended the appointment of a Permanent Chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) as a midway to allay apprehensions over the CDS.
A committee headed by Lt General D.B. Shekatkar (retired) committee which submitted its report in December 2019 which had 34 recommendations pertaining to the tri-services also favoured the CDS.