Gen Bipin Rawat 1st Chief Of Defence Staff

It is official now! The nerve wracking suspense over who will benamed as India’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) is now finally over! Gen Bipin Rawat has been named officially as India’s first CDS.

- SANJEEV SIROHI

He will head the newly created Department of Military Affairs (DMA) which will focus on promoting jointness in procurement, training and staffing for the tri-services and will act as the principal military adviser to the Defence Minister on all matters pertaining to the tri-services. This announcement was made just a day before his retirement as the Indian Army Chief.

Needless to say, this latest, landmark and extremely laudable development can be rightly termed as the most significant reform in top military management in India in last few decades! This comes just four months after PM Narendra Modi had himself announced in his Independence Day speech about the creation of the post for more effective coordination between the three armed forces which generally has been found wanting! But now CDS will ensure that there is complete coordination and cooperation between the three armed forces!

It may be recalled that Gen Bipin Rawat was commissioned into the Army in 1978 after graduating from Indian Military Academy where for his outstanding performance he was awarded the Sword of Honour! He was commissioned into the 5/11 Gorkha Rifles. It was under his leadership that Indian Army Brigade saved a key Congolese province from being overrun by rebels. Lieutenant General Babacar Gaye who was the then Force Commander of the UN mission in Congo while applauding his mettle wrote in the commendation awarded to him that it was due to his “leadership, courage and experience” that North Kivu’s capital Goma never fell, the country’s eastern region was stabilised and the main rebel group was forced to come to the negotiating table.