Chief Of Defence Staff First Among Equals?

As the country waits for its first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), Prakash Katoch warns that any half-hearted implementation of the idea will be a sheer waste and argues why the CDS is vital not only for providing single point military advice to the Cabinet but also to usher in synergy vertically and horizontally among the three Services with full operational powers

- Prakash Katoch

Much had happened before Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on August 15, 2019 that India would soon have a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Government has now announced that a CDS is likely to be appointed shortly. The team under the National Security Advisor (NSA) set up to work out the responsibilities, modalities of appointment and terms of employment for the CDS has apparently completed its task and submitted its recommendations to the government. Government has therefore asked the three services to submit names of their senior officers who could be considered for the post.

Background

The Kargil Review Committee (KRC) in 1999 had recommended early establishment of the CDS, which was endorsed by the follow up Group of Ministers (GoM). On September 8, 2005, the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee told a tri-services gathering at HQ IDS that few months back government had decided to announce the CDS and identified who the first CDS would be, but there was no political consensus. He however, added that there were 101 things on which political consensus was not there but decisions were taken. The Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) & Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), the Vice Chief of Air Staff (the Chief of Air Staff being away on foreign tour) and the Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to The Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), all consented to the requirement of the CDS when questioned individually by Mukherjee, agreeing that CDS must have ‘full operational powers’. The Chairman COSC & CNS also pointed out that Chairman COSC had been quietly taken out of the nuclear loop by putting the Strategic Forces Command (SFC) directly under the NSA; a bureaucratic machination, which needed to be rectified.