NEW DELHI: Indian Military will soon see the appointment of the much-awaited and debated Chief of Defence Staff. Speaking from the ramparts of the Red Fort Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the appointment of Chief of Defence Staff soon.
“I want to announce a major decision from the Red Fort. India will have a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS)," said the Prime Minister.
The appointment of CDS will provide effective leadership and will further sharpen coordination between the forces, added the Prime Minister. He stressed upon better coordination and synergy between the Army, Navy and Air Force.
The recommendation for the appointment of the single point military advisor to the government of India was hanging fire since the Kargil Review Committee and the Group of Ministers formed after the Kargil war of 1999.
Four task forces were formed and the Task Force on Management of Defence, headed by Mr. Arun Singh had submitted its report in August 2001 in which it had made a number of recommendations regarding integration of Service HQs with Ministry of Defence (MoD), changes in procurement and acquisition process, evolving long term perspective plans, creation of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and putting in place of a Strategic Force Command besides tri-Service Andaman & Nicobar Command.
While the rest of the recommendations came into being it was only the post of the Chief of Defence Staff which was not created.
Chief of Defence Staff will be a tri-Service chief and is the first step to professionally towards integrating military top leadership advisory mechanism.