THE GENERAL FOR THE JOB

The Indian armed forces have finally got their top commander. On Friday, September 30, General Anil Chauhan took over as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), in a low-key event held away from the media glare.

- Pradip R. Sagar

A man of few words, Gen. Chauhan, 61, has let his military record speak for him so far. As the director general of military operations (DGMO), he oversaw the Balakot airstrike on a terror camp deep inside Pakistan territory in 2019, and was in the thick of things, as the Eastern army commander, when China started flexing its muscles along India’s eastern frontiers in 2020.

The top defence post—created to improve the coordination and overall integration of the combat capabilities of the Indian armed forces—had been vacant for almost 10 months after India’s first CDS, Gen. Bipin Rawat, died in a chopper crash in December 2021. With the appointment of Gen. Chauhan as the country’s second CDS, it is for the first time in the history of the Indian military that a retired threestar general has returned to active service as a four-star general.