The Cabinet Committee on Security will sit next week to select a new Chief of Defence Staff. The country’s first CDS, General Bipin Rawat passed away in an air crash on Wednesday.
The meeting is likely to take place next week during which a decision will be taken on whom to appoint as the next Chief of Defence Staff. If the government decides to pick a CDS from the Army, then the name of General M M Naravane appears as the frontrunner.
The government is believed to draw up a panel comprising senior commanders from the Army, Indian Air Force and Navy. The panel would then meet and finalise on the name of the new CDS and then send the recommendation to Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh for approval.
On getting approval from Singh, the same would be sent to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, following which a final decision would be taken. The post being an extremely crucial one, officials aware about the development said that there would be no delay in deciding the next CDS.
The overall merit cum seniority is what would be considered before appointing a new CDS. The rules say that all service chiefs can be considered for the post. It is said that a General who can provide sound and single point advice to the government can be considered for the post of CDS.
According to Air Marshal B K Pandey, the senior most among the three chiefs will take over. As per that logic, Indian Army Chief, General M M Naravane is the senior most among the three service chiefs and therefore he should take over. Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari and navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar are around 2 years junior to him.
If General Naravane, who is due to retire in April next year, is named as the next CDS then the post of Army chief would fall vacant. This would mean that the government will have to appoint a new Army chief.
Considering the tensions with both China and Pakistan along the Line of Actual Control and Line of Control, the time is very crucial for the government to have a sound and single point military advisor.
The post of CDS was created with plenty of forethought and also by taking into account the current situation, and how the situation would evolve in the near future. General Rawat himself had said that India is facing a threat from 2.5 fronts.
