After the much-awaited announcement of the next chief of the Indian Army, now all eyes are on who would be the country's first chief of defence staff. The corridors of South Block, which houses the defence ministry, are abuzz with speculations that current Army Chief, General Bipin Rawat, will take over as the first CDS. But some say that nowadays it's difficult to predict anything because, in the past, the Narendra Modi government has taken decisions that have 'surprised' everyone.
After the mega announcement on the CDS post by Modi during his Independence Day address from the ramparts of Red Fort this year, a committee headed by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval was formed to formulate the charter of duties for the country's topmost military officer. The Doval panel submitted its report on the role, responsibility and powers of the chief of defence staff to the Cabinet Committee on Security last month.
It is learnt that the CDS will be the single-point military officer interfacing with the government on military and strategic issues. The CDS will also oversee the tri-services procurements, logistics and training aspects.
The Doval-led committee, which also has the cabinet secretary and defence secretary as members, has suggested the post of the senior-most military officer, who will be senior to the current serving chiefs.
The CDS, a four-star officer, will be the first amongst equals (all three service chiefs are four-star officers). And the tenure of the CDS will be for two years up to the age of 64 years.
“The age and tenure of the CDS was the most debated point, as a section in the government believes that the CDS should not be senior to the rank of cabinet secretary, who is the senior-most bureaucrat of the country,” an official with the defence ministry opined.
Consequent to the submission of the Kargil Review Committee report, a group of ministers (GoM), headed by then deputy prime minister L.K. Advani, had recommended the creation of the post of CDS with an aim to bring synergy in the three services.
“We expect the CDS will bring about improvements in the organisation, structures and processes through integration of civil and military components and enhance ‘jointness’ among the armed forces,” a senior officer says.
According to officials, Rawat is the frontrunner for the key post of CDS. Rawat is superannuating on December 31.
On late Monday evening, the Modi government quietly announced the name of Lt. General Manoj Mukund Naravane as successor to Rawat as Army chief.
Lt. Gen Naravane, presently the vice of Army staff, is an officer from the Sikh Light Infantry regiment, which makes him the third officer from the regiment to rise up to the rank of Army chief after generals V.P. Malik and Bikram Singh. Interestingly, Naravane is the fifth consecutive Army chief from the dominant infantry regiment.
Naravane, a Maratha from Pune, was the Eastern Army commander and commander, Army Training Command (ARTRAC), before becoming the vice chief of Army staff in September. Naravane has also commanded a Rashtriya Rifles battalion in Kashmir, served in the Assam Rifles and has been India's defence attaché to Myanmar.
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Incidentally, Indian Air Force chief Air Marshal R.K.S. Bhaduria and Navy chief Admiral Karambir Singh were course-mates of Naravane in NDA.
“All three service chiefs are from the NDA's 56th batch. It is very rare occasion, when all three chiefs are from the same batch,” an officer pointed out.
By announcing Naravane as the next chief, the government has maintained the seniority principle, which was ignored when general Bipin Rawat was made Army chief in 2016 by superseding two senior generals.
