New Delhi: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Monday was appointed as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who will have the challenging task of synergising operations of the Army, Air Force and Navy to prepare them for future wars.
“Government has decided to appoint General Bipin Rawat as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) with effect from 31-12-2019 and until further orders,” said a government statement.
Gen. Rawat was to retire as Chief of the Army Staff on December 31. The government has extended the services of Gen Rawat till he holds the post of CDS.
Lt. Gen. Manoj Mukund Naravane will take charge as the Chief of Army Staff on Tuesday.
The Centre on Saturday had notified the retirement age for the CDS as 65 years. This means that Gen. Rawat, who turns 62 in March, can have a tenure of 3 years as the CDS.
As tri-services chief, Gen Rawat will be the single-point military advisor to the government. His main objective will be to restructure military commands by integrating land-air-sea operations of the three services to create new theatre commands for effective military response in case of hostilities.
Gen. Rawat will be the Principal Military Adviser to the defence minister on tri-services (involving army, navy and air force) issues.
He will be a four-star general like chiefs of Army, Navy and Air Force but will be “first among the equals”.
The CDS will be the permanent chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee which has three service chiefs as members.
Chief of Defence Staff will head the department of military affairs to be created within the defence ministry and will function as its secretary. The CDS will have salary and perks of a Service chief.
The CDS will assign inter-services prioritisation to capital acquisition proposals of Army, Navy and Air Force based on the anticipated budget and will work to reduce wasteful expenditure. The CDS will enable the Armed Forces to implement co-ordinated defence doctrines and procedures and to foster jointmanship among the three services.
Gen. Rawat, is an alumnus of St. Edward School, Shimla and was commissioned to the Eleventh Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army in December 1978, from IMA, Dehradun.
He had assumed the appointment of the Chief of the Army Staff on December 31, 2016.
As Army commander, he had vast experience in operations across a wide spectrum of conflict and terrain profiles.
