Both serving, retired officers likely to be considered for CDS appointment. For the appointment of the new Chief of Defence Staff, the government is likely to consider both serving and retired military officers, sources said.
The post has been lying vacant since December 8 last year after the death of the country’s first CDS late General Bipin Rawat in an air crash.
Sources told that the government is also expected to announce the appointment of the next Army chief in the coming week itself as a decision has already been taken.
The panel of officers to be considered for the appointment as the next CDS is likely to include both serving and retired officers, the sources said.
The panel is also likely to include both three-star and four star-rank officers, they said. The appointment of the CDS by the Narendra Modi government within six months of coming back to power in 2019 has been hailed as one of the biggest reforms in the higher military structure of the country.
The CDS office and the theatre command planned to be created and put under its command are expected to make it the strongest ever military office in the country with all fighting formations reporting directly to it.
The CDS was appointed as the Secretary of the Department of Military Affairs which functions at present under an Additional Secretary-rank Lieutenant General.
The CDS is also the head of the Integrated Defence Staff presently headed by a three-star officer from the Indian Air Force.
The government has also made the CDS in-charge of the Make in India in defence programme and has been given the mandate of promoting and ensuring the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme in the defence sector.
Gen Rawat used to devote a majority of his time to promote self-reliance in defence and was also responsible for bringing out the positive list of indigenisation which listed items being put in the import ban lost to promote job creation within the country.
Three months after the sudden demise of the country’s first chief of defence staff General Bipin Rawat, the Union government is yet to announce the next CDS. Army Chief General M.M. Naravane is the senior-most among the three service chiefs, while both the Navy and Indian Air Force have recently got their respective chiefs. Chief of the Indian Air Force Air Chief Marshal V.R. Choudhary and Navy Chief Admiral R. Hari Kumar assumed office on September 30 and November 30 respectively.
Recently The government has appointed Lt Gen Manoj C Pande, presently Vice Chief of the Army Staff, as the next Chief of the Army Staff with effect from the afternoon of April 30, 2022.
This makes Gen Naravane the front-runner to the CDS post as he is retiring by the end of April 2022. Besides, Gen Naravane, former air force chief Air Chief Marshal R.K.S. Bhadauria is also seen as the possible contender for the post of country’s topmost military man, as he made sincere efforts to iron out the differences among the services over creation of the planned threatre commands for the Indian military.
Another update is that the three service chiefs of the Indian armed forces will be from the 61st batch of the National Defense Academy (NDA) at Khadakwasla, after the Army chief-designate Lt Gen Manoj C Pande takes over as the 29th Chief of Army Staff on April 30.
Navy Chief Admiral Hari Kumar and Air Chief Marshal Vivek Ram Chaudhari are also from the same NDA course, defence officials said. While Lt Gen Pande is from the Lima squadron, the two other chiefs are from the Juliet squadron of NDA.
So all eyes are on the announcement of the next CDS, The CDS is also the single point of contact for the government for giving military advice and is the senior-most bureaucrat in the defence ministry which has four major departments.
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