Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Thursday that the process of identifying the next Chief of Defense Staff has been started. However, he did not comment on any timeline for the practice.
, after the death of General Bipin RawatIn a helicopter crash on December 8, the country’s first Chief of Defense Staff, Army Chief General MM Naravane took over some of the CDS responsibilities as the Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC). The committee, which includes the chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, is the main body deciding military issues.
When the post of CDS was created on January 1, 2020, with General Rawat taking over, the CDS was appointed as the permanent head of the committee, the first-ever four-star chief in parity. Afterwards General Rawat passed awayGeneral Naravane has assumed this role as he is the senior-most among the serving chiefs.
The death of General Rawat has created an unforeseen situation, with the role falling on the shoulders of General Naravane as per the old system, where the position of committee chairman was rotated between services on the basis of seniority. This system has been in place since independence, but critics point out that it sometimes gives the service chief to serve as the chairman of the COSC for a few months before retirement.
But now, General Naravane has taken over by default, until a new CDS is appointed. IAF chief Air Chief Marshal VR Choudhary and Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar are two years junior to General Naravane, who are due to retire in April next year.
If he is appointed as CDS, he will get three additional years. While officers of the rank of lieutenant general retire at the age of 60, officers of the rank of general or chief of service retire at the age of 62. The retirement age for CDS is 65 years.
Sources said his seniority has also made him a “natural choice” for the CDS, which is yet to be decided by the government. He is not only the most senior military officer in the country, but many in the defense establishment are of the view that the CDS should be from the Army, at least till the theater process is complete.
Under General Rawat, the three armies conducted studies on the possible architecture of a unified theater command—three for land, and one each for air defense and maritime security. However, there are some differences between forces on how the assets should be divided, and who should report to the commander of these newly unified tri-service theaters.
Officials said that General Naravane is likely to be the next CDS, as he had worked closely with General Rawat and took over as the army chief from him. But his appointment may affect the line of succession in the army. General Rawat had one more year to go before retiring at the age of 65 at the end of 2022, until General Naravane retires.
If General Naravane is promoted before his retirement, it will make serving Deputy Chief Lt Gen CP Mohanty the senior-most Army officer. Northern Army Commander Lt Gen YK Joshi will be next in seniority after Lt Gen Mohanty. Mohanty and Joshi are due to retire at the end of January, unless one of them is named the next army chief. If General Naravane serves as the Army Chief by April, Eastern Army Commander Lt Gen Manoj Pandey will become the senior-most Army officer, and will be in line to take up the rank of General to lead the Army.
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