Gen Rawat India’s 1st Chief of Defence Staff
MILITARY REFORMS He will act as adviser to govt on matters related to tri-services
NEWDELHI: The Union government on Monday announced that General Bipin Rawat will be India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), heading the newly created department of military affairs and acting as the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all matters related to the tri-services, an announcement that came a day before his retirement as the Indian Army chief.
The development, perhaps the most significant reform in top military management in India, comes four months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced in his Independence Day speech the creation of the post for more effective coordination between the three armed forces. Rawat will take over as CDS on Tuesday.
The creation of a CDS was suggested almost two decades ago by the Kargil Review Committee (KRC) in February 2000.
“Government has decided to appoint General Bipin Rawat… as the Chief of Defence Staff with effect from 31.12.2019 and until further orders and extension in service of General Bipin Rawat… with effect from 31.12.2019 and till such period he holds the office of CDS,” an official statement said.
As CDS, Rawat will have the same salary and perquisites as the three service chiefs (who are also four-star officers). Apart from heading the department of military affairs, Rawat will also hold the charge of permanent chairman, chiefs of staff committee (CoSC).
“Chief of the Defence Staff
shall pursue greater coordination amongst the three Services and ensure unison in employment of military power in line with the dynamic security requirement,” the Indian Army’s Twitter handle said.
Until now, the chairmanship of the committee, which consists of the three service chiefs, was held in rotation by the senior-most service chief for brief periods and the arrangement was found to be unsatisfactory.
Though the government has said the CDS will not exercise any military command, including over the three service chiefs, it is expected that Rawat will be the
“first among equals”, also because he is senior to all the other chiefs in terms of service. Experts said Rawat will have his work cut out to fulfil his wide-ranging mandate.
Admiral Arun Prakash, who retired as navy chief and chairman, CoSC, in October 2006, said the principal challenge for the country’s first CDS will be to integrate the armed forces into the government edifice to enable them to participate fully in decision-making.
“Another challenge would be to integrate the department of military affairs with the department of defence. He will have to
work out an arrangement for cross-postings — civilians and uniformed personnel — between the two wings of the defence ministry. He will also have to integrate the acquisition requirements of the three services and groom people to take over theatre commands in future,” said Prakash, who was the commanderin-chief of India’s first tri-services command at Port Blair. He headed the Andaman and Nicobar Command during 2001-02.
According to the Union defence ministry, one of the key responsibilities of the department of military affairs under
Rawat would be to facilitate the restructuring of military commands for optimal utilisation of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including through the establishment of joint/theatre commands.
Such commands will come under the operational control of an officer from any of the three services, depending on the function assigned to that command. Currently, the three services are not in agreement on theatre commands.
“Theaterisation should not be done in a hurry. The Indian armed forces don’t need that at the moment. The CDS will have to deal with all those issues. He will also have to set up robust structures for cross-service cooperation,” said Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, who retired as IAF chief and chairman, CoSC, in July 2011.
The government has said while the CDS will act as the principal military adviser to the defence minister on all tri-services matters, the three service chiefs will continue to advise the minister on matters exclusively concerning their respective services. The department of military affairs will focus on promoting jointness in procurement, training and staffing for the tri-services.
The KRC, headed by K Subrahmanyam, recommended the appointment of a CDS as a means to provide single-point professional military advice to the political leadership. Two years after the 1999 Kargil war, the group of ministers strongly recommended that India should have a CDS. The need for appointing a CDS was also highlighted by several committees and parliamentary panels between 2002 and 2016. But successive governments were unable to build political consensus around a CDS before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the creation of the post on August 15 this year.
A gazette notification issued on Saturday set 65 as the maximum serving age for the CDS. It puts the post on par with the comptroller and auditor general, the chief election commissioner and the central vigilance commissioner in terms of the retirement age. The three service chiefs end their term after three years of service or when they turn 62, whichever is earlier.