Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the creation of post of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) on 15 August. The rank of CDS will be above the three Service Chiefs. It is the most significant reform in the defence.
The creation of the post aims to make the Indian defence forces even more effective. It will also ensure the better coordination between the three defence services. As future wars become short, swift and network-centric, coordination among the three services is crucial.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) will act as the single-point advisor to the Government, and to coordinate long-term planning, procurements, training and logistics of the three services .The CDS officer will be advising the Army, Navy and Air force on matters related to all the three services. The officer concerned will make the Country’s armed forces integrated.
The proposal for a CDS has been there for two decades. It was first made by the K. Subrahmanyam committee appointed after the Kargil conflict of 1999 to recommend higher military reforms. Then in May 2001, former Minister of State for Defence Arun Singh-led GoM recommended the appointment of CDS with the administrative control over India’s Strategic Forces Command. 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. Once again in 2016, the proposal for the post was recommended. The CDS is one of the 99 recommendations made by the Lt General D.B. Shekatkar (retd) Committee which submitted its report in December 2016 which had 34 recommendations pertaining to the tri-services.
The Current Status:
In the absence of a CDS, presently the senior most of the three Chiefs functions as the Chairman COSC. But it is an additional role and the tenures have been very short. For instance Air Chief Marshal B.S. Dhanoa took over as the Chairman COSC on May 31 from outgoing Navy Chief Adm Sunil Lanba. However, B.S. Dhanoa will be the Chairman COSC for only few months after which the baton will pass to Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat who will then be the senior most. Gen Rawat too is set to retire on December 31 after three years in office.
All major countries, especially the nuclear weapon states, have a CDS. The U.K. has a Permanent Secretary, equivalent to the Defence Secretary, and also a CDS.