On September 28, 2022, retired Lt General Anil Chauhan was appointed as India’s second Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the first being late General Bipin Rawat, who had passed away in a helicopter crash in December 2021. For the first time in the history of India’s military, a three-star officer was brought back to service after retirement. He assumed the rank of the four-star General after taking charge as India’s second CDS.
In June 2022, the government had amended rules paving the way for the appointment of any serving or retired Lt General, Air Marshal, and Vice Admiral under the age of 62 to the post of the CDS. While the age-limit for the three service chiefs (Army, Navy, and Air Force) is 62 years of age or three years of service, whichever is earlier, the age limit for the CDS is 65 years of age with no fixed tenure.
As the CDS, General Anil Chauhan became the senior most liaison between the Government and the Indian military. His functions include to be the principal military adviser to the union defence minister on all tri-service matters as well as to head the Department of Military Affairs as secretary. He has also become the permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC).
Career
Lt General Chauhan was born on May 18, 1961, in Uttarakhand. An alumnus of the National Defence Academy and Indian Military Academy, he was commissioned into the 11 Gorkha Rifles in 1981. In the rank of Major General, he had commanded an infantry division in the critical Baramulla sector in the Northern Command. After that, he commanded a corps in the North-East as Lt General.
During his service in the army, Lt General Chauhan also held important staff appointments in addition to holding these command positions such as the charge of Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) at the Army Headquarters, from January 2018 till August 2019, when General Rawat was the Army Chief. As the DGMO, General Chauhan oversaw ‘Operation Sunrise’ in 2019. (Op Sunrise was the coordinated operation undertaken by Indian and Myanmar armies on insurgent groups who had taken shelter across the border.) The operation, in a way, broke the backbone of northeast insurgencies. The operations were highly successful and by the time Op Sunrise-III was launched in 2020, he was the Army Commander. He had also contributed to the Naga talks in consultation with the then Governor of Nagaland.
He became the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Eastern Command in 2019 and had held the charge until his retirement from the service in May 2021. He ensured that the Army’s focus was shifted from counter-insurgency to the conventional task along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). He was in charge of Operation Snow Leopard in Eastern Ladakh then.
He had also served on a United Nations mission to Angola. After his retirement in May 2021, he had taken charge as the military adviser in the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS). Till his appointment as CDS, he was working closely with the National Security Adviser, Ajit Doval.
Lt General Chauhan is also a writer and has authored two books namely, Aftermath of a Nuclear Attack and Military Geography of India’s Northern Borders.
For his services, he was awarded the Param Vishisht Seva Medal, Uttam Yudh Seva Medal, Ati Vishisht Seva Medal, Sena Medal, and Vishisht Seva Medal.
Huge Task Forward
Ex CDS, Late General Rawat, was pushing forward the ambitious plan for reorganisation of the armed forces into integrated theatre commands, among other measures, in order to bring in synergy and efficiency. It would have five unified or theatre commands, which would help in better planning and military response, and aim to have a unified approach to fighting any future wars. Now, Lt General Chauhan has this huge task of taking forward the transformation and reorganisation of the armed forces that was stalled due to the death of General Rawat. There has been a delay due to lack of complete consensus and objections on certain aspects from the Air Force. Also, the war in Ukraine has added urgency on the need to indigenise critical military technologies and systems and reduce dependence on imports.
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