Chief of Defense Staff Late General Bipin Rawat (left) and Chief of Army Staff General Manoj Mukund Naravane (right)
The government is set to begin the process soon for the appointment of the next Chief of Defense Staff along with Army Chief General MM Naravane, who is the front-runner for the top post vacated after the death of General Bipin Rawat in a tragic helicopter crash. Huh.
The government’s move comes even as several retired army commanders said it would be prudent to appoint General Naravane to the top military post as he is retiring as the Chief of Army Staff in five months.
People familiar with the developments said on Thursday that the government would form a small panel comprising senior commanders of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
Based on the recommendations of the three services, the panel will be finalized in the next two to three days and then it will be sent to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh for approval.
After approval by the Defense Minister, the names will be sent for consideration by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet which will take a final call on India’s next Chief of Defense Staff (CDS), who are familiar with the development.
He said that the Chief of Integrated Defense Staff to the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC) is likely to coordinate the process of preparing the panel of potential candidates for the post of Chief of Defense Staff.
Explaining the procedure, he said that the government will follow the same protocol for appointment of CDS as prescribed for the appointment of service chiefs.
The CDS is the chairman of the powerful Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) which also includes three service chiefs.
It is learned that Gen Naravane is more likely to be appointed to the top post for his overall performance as well as handling of the East Ladakh standoff.
The army chief is due to retire in April. General Naravane is the senior most among the three service chiefs.
IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Choudhary and Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar took their respective positions on 30 September and 30 November.
On January 1 last year, General Rawat took over as India’s first CDS to bring about convergence in the functioning of the Army, Navy and the Indian Air Force and enhance the country’s overall military prowess.
Another major mandate of the CDS was to facilitate the restructuring of military commands for optimum utilization of resources by bringing about jointness in operations, including the establishment of theater commands.
In 1999, a high-level committee set up to examine deficiencies in India’s security system in the wake of the Kargil War recommended the appointment of the CDS as a single-point military advisor to the Defense Minister.
In the last two years, General Rawat laid the groundwork for implementing the tri-services reforms. General Rawat’s tenure as CDS was till March 2023. The retirement age for CDS is 65 years while the tenure of service chiefs is up to 62 years or up to three years, whichever is earlier.
The CDS is also the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs (DMA) in the Ministry of Defense and the Principal Advisor to the Defense Minister.
“There is a high probability that General Naravane will be made the next Chief of Defense Staff and it will be a wise decision,” said a former high-ranking military commander.
There has been a view among an influential section of military planners that the Chief of Defense Staff should be from the military, at least until the ambitious theater process is completed under the ambitions of higher defense reform.
If General Naravane is appointed as CDS, the government will have to find his replacement as well.
In that case, Deputy Chief of Army Staff Lt Gen CP Mohanty and Northern Army Commander Lt Gen YK Joshi will be the frontrunners for the rank of Army Chief, Lt Gen Mohanty and Lt Gen Joshi are from the same batch and the senior-most is General Naravane. After Commander.
However, as Deputy Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Mohanty, with extensive experience of serving extensively in formations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), has a better chance of succeeding General Naravane if he is appointed CDS. Is.
Experts said it is legitimate for the government to take some time to decide on the next CDS as keeping the post vacant for a few days will not affect military preparedness or operational aspects.
Another former military commander, on the condition of anonymity, said, “The CDS does not have an operational role. Even if the government takes a little more time, it will not affect the operational issues.”
As CDS, General Rawat emphasized on pursuing jointness and integration across the board so as to develop trust between rank and file and shape the conducive perception among the three services to work jointly .
He had consistently said that India’s aspiration to become a regional power could not depend on “borrowed power” and that the country would have to win its wars with an ‘Indian solution’.
Read also | ‘I saw him, he asked for water…’: Eyewitness says he saw General Rawat among burning remains of IAF chopper
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