JOIN USIndia awaits the next CDS
India lost its first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Gen Bipin Rawat, in a tragic accident. Reports suggest that the government has started the process of identifying the next CDS by inviting a panel of senior officers from all three Services, which would be taken to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet for approval. As CDS for nearly two years, Gen Rawat is believed to have worked towards bringing convergence in the functioning of the three Services and to restructure military commands for optimal resource utilisation, integration and modernisation. Hence the delay in the appointment of the next CDS has been called out with concern by the strategic community.
The CDS in India is not the Commander-in-Chief of all three Services, as some vernacular media has been ignorantly reporting. For the Indian military establishment, which has functioned without a CDS for more than 70 years, the non-availability of a CDS for a brief period will not affect operational preparedness.
But reforms initiated by Gen Rawat as CDS may lose momentum if the next incumbent doesn’t take over soon. Having set an ambitious target of not only attaining self-reliance but also achieving defence exports of Rs 35,000 crore by 2024-25, it is necessary for the entire defence apparatus of the country, including the defence PSUs and the ordnance factories to come together as one. With the Service Chiefs continuing to be busy with training, equipping and operational planning of their respective Services, the CDS would provide the necessary impetus in synergising joint planning and, more importantly, directing the use of strategic assets, when necessary.
Being senior-most among the three Service Chiefs, the appointment of Army Chief Gen Naravane as the next CDS would have been an easy decision for the government. Interestingly, the government has chosen to wait, giving space for speculation.
As per some analysts, this would have upset the succession plan in the Army because the current Vice Chief of Army Lt Gen CP Mohanty and Northern Army Commander Lt Gen YK Joshi would be in contention for the Army Chief’s post. So, has the government chosen to wait until Jan 31, 2022, when both officers of the same batch retire?
Gen Naravane has now been appointed Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, a post which was held by Gen Rawat, indicating that the government is in no hurry to appoint the new CDS.
If the government chooses to wait until he retires in April 2022, then it would have two options open – one, for his appointment as the CDS post-retirement, as was the case with Gen Rawat; and two — choose another officer on merit.
On the retirement of Gen Naravane, Air Chief Marshal V R Chaudhari would be the senior-most among the Service Chiefs and his elevation as the CDS would make tactical sense on two accounts. For optics, it would bring a truly tri-service character to the post of CDS, which is supposed to be held in rotation among the three Services. But more importantly, it may influence the IAF to be more amenable to the creation of theatre commands since it is believed that the IAF has been resisting their creation fearing distribution of its limited combat assets among theatres in the North and West, which in all likelihood would be functioning under the command of Army officers.
Whatever be the time frame the government has in mind for appointing the next CDS, it must use this period to resolve the hierarchical anomalies observed in the last two years. For instance, the CDS being a four-star ranked officer is entitled to a higher status as per the Warrant of Precedence, than the Secretary of any department. However, Gen Rawat was accorded the rank of Secretary when he was heading the Department of Military Affairs (DMA), along with other four Secretaries in the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
In another such anomaly, the second senior-most officer in the DMA, who is a three-star ranked military officer, is assigned the status of an Additional Secretary in the MoD, lowering his status. For the sake of argument, the Warrant of Precedence may be ceremonial in nature, but in such high-ranking appointments, the protocol becomes an irksome issue that should be avoided.
The ideal option would be to move the DMA out of the MoD and make it an arm of the Integrated Defence Staff. The Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman-Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) and the three-star ranked officer in the DMA could report to the CDS, strengthening his role with adequate resources and inputs. This would make the CDS truly independent in fulfilling his responsibilities as the Principal Military Adviser to the government. The nation awaits the next CDS.